HISTORY  AND  STATISTICS 


OF 


FROM 


ITS  EARLIEST  SETTLEMENT  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME, 


EMBRACING 

INCIDENTS  AND  HARDSHIPS  OF  PIONEER  LIFE,  THE  RISE 
AND  PROGRESS  MADE  IN  TWENTY-TWO  YEARS , 
LOCATION , RESOURCES,  FERTILITY 
OF  ITS  SOIL , ETC.,  ETC. 


COMPILED  BT 

MAJ,  E . W.  M OR  RILL, 

% 


HIAWATHA,  KANSAS. 

KANSAS  HERALD  BOOK,  NEWS  AND  .JOB  OFFICE. 
JULY  4TH,  1876. 

0- 


' •’  < ry  l 

Oi  Ci  R0V 

TlL'J^k'  - ■•■  i i ...  2 

?S97 


27^a-L-?7  .2-5>£- 


^ukc  Uni 


Pamphlet  CoJiec- , 

U*e  University  Lff,rary 


HISTO  PxY. 


On  the  30th  day  of  May,  1854,  the  Act  of  Congress 
providing  for  a territorial  organization  of  the  Territories 
of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  was  signed  by  President  Pierce, 
and  became  a law,  and  the  large  amount  of  public  lands 
■embraced  within  their  boundaries  was  thrown  open  to  set- 
tlement under  the  pre-emption  laws  of  the  United  States. 
Under  the  provisions  of  that  Act  an  election  was  held  on 
the  3 th  of  March,  1855,  to  choose  members  of  the  first 
Legislature  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas.  The  Legislature 
thus  elected  met  at  Pawnee  and  soon  after  adjourned  to 
meet  at  Shawnee  Manual  Labor  School  on  the  22nd  of  Ju- 
ly of  the  same  year.  At  this  session  of  the  Legislature  an 
act  was  passed,  districting  a portion  of  the  territory  into 
counties  and  naming  the  counties  thus  laid  off.  This  act 
provides  that  Browne  county  shall  be  bounded  as  follows: 
Beginning  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Doniphan  county, 
thence  west  twenty-four  miles,  thence  south  thirty  miles, 
thence  east  to  the  West  line  of  Atchison  county,  thence 
north  to  the  northwest  corner  of  Atchison  comity,  thence 
east  with  said  line  of  Atchison  county,  to  the  northwest 
corner  of  Doniphan  county,  thence  north  with  said  west 
line  of  Doniphan  county  to  place  of  beginning.  It  will  be 
observed  that  two  serious  mistakes  occur  in  this  descrip- 
tion— at  the  commencement  it  should  be  northwest  corner 


I 


1 1 isT'  i r v ok 


ol'  I >on i j *han  county,  ami  near  the  close  it  should  be  south- 
west corner  of  Doniphan  county.  The  same  act  attached 
the  County  of  Browne  to  the  County  of  Doniphan  for  civil 
and  military  purposes.  In  regard  to  the  origin  of  tlm 
name,  there  seems  to  he  quite  a difference  oi  opinion. 
The  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  Hon.  Al- 
fred Cray,  in  his  report  for  187b,  says  Brown  county  was 
was  named  in  honor  of  lion.  Albert  G.  Brown  oi  Missis- 
sippi, who  was  a member  of  the  United  States  Senate  at 
the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  act  organising  Kam.as  Ter- 
ritory. In  support  of  this  view,  a letter  from  Judge  F.  G. 
Adams,  an  old  and  honored  citizen  .of  Ihe  State  is  here- 
with submitted. 

“Topkka,  Kan.,  April  ti,  18Tb. 
Hon.  Alfred  Grey,  Sec  y State  Board  of  Agriculture  : 

Dear  Sir: — You  have  shown  me  the  letter  of  Hon. 
K.  A.  .Morrill,  in  which  he  expresses  a doubt  as  to  the  cor- 
rectness of  your  Fourth  Annual  Report,  in  respect  to  the 
origin  of  the  name  of  Brown  county. 

I furnished  you  the  information  for  the  item  in  your 
report  upon  the  authority  of  Hon.  John  Martin,  of  Topeka, 
who  was  a clerk  in  the  legislature  during  which  the  county 
was  originally  established  and  named — the  session  of  ISbu 
— the  first  territorial  session,  held  at  Shawnee  Mission,  in 
Johnson  county. 

Mr.  Martin's  recollection  was  quite  clear  on  the  point  ? 
and  his  information  was  so  explicit  that  I bad  no  doubt  ot 
its  correctness.  Since  seeing  Major  Morrill  s letter  to  vou, 

I have  made  further  inquiry  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Alex. 
S.  Johnson  and  Mr.  H.  D.  McMeekin,  of  this  city,  both  of 
whom  were  members  of  that  first  Territorial  legislature. 
They  fully  agreed  with  Mr.  Martin,  that  the' county  was 
named  in  honor  of  Albert  G.  Brown,  of  Mississippi,  as 
stated  in  your  report. 

In  respect  to  the  orthography  of  the  name,  I have  ex- 
amined, and  find  the  following  facts: 

'flic  act  of  18oo,  ‘defining  the  boundaries  of  the  counties, 
of  Kansas,' gives  the  spelling  Browne.  It  is  so  in  the 


lUiOWX  ( or  XI  V. 


published  statutes  and  journals,  and  so  in  the  enrolled  bill 
preserved  in  the  Secretary  of  Stall’s  office. 

But  it  does  not  so  occur  in  the  enrolled  hills  of  the  sec- 
ond session  of  the  Legislature,  held  in  IS  7,  commencing 
at  Leoompton,  Jan.  4th  of  that  year.  In  the  enrolled  hills 
of  thro  second  session  the  final  e is  dropped  from  Brown 
county.  This  is  so  in  an  act  redefining  the  boundaries  of 
the  several  counties  of  the  Territory,  and  the  same  is  true 
as  to  all  of  (he  enrolled  bills  of  that  session,  including  one 
redistricting  the  Territory  for  legislative  purposes.  But 
in  the  published  statutes  of  that  session.  18yT,  rlie  name  is 
invariably  printed  with  the  final  e — following  the  statutes 
of  184-3. 

The  enrolled  bill  is  the  highest  authority  of  variance  line 
this.  It  was  then  the  legislature  of  18-37  that  changed 
the  orthography' from  Browne  to  Brown.  The  latter  or- 
thography has  since  been  followed  in  Kansas  statutes. 

Major  Morrill  was  a member  of  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives at  the  third  legislative  session,  and  the  first  page  of 
the  House  journal  of  that  session  shows  that  he  appeared 
as  the  member  from  the  fourth  and  fifth  districts,  embra- 
cing Brown  and  Nemaha  counties — the  final  e being  omit- 
ted in  the  Journal  as  in  all  the  laws  and  proceedings  of 
that  session. 

Albert  G.  Brown's  name  was  not  spelled  with  a final  e. 
If,  then,  Messrs;  Johnson,  Martin  and  McMeexiu  are  cor- 
rect, as  they  doubtless  are,  in  their  recollection,  that  the 
legislature  of  18-3-3  intended  to  honor  the  Mississippi  (Sena- 
tor. by  giving  hi--  name  to  the  county,  a clerical  error  was 
made  in  the  enrollment  of  the  oil! — an  error  which  went 
into  the  printed  statutes  of  that  and  the  succeeding  ses- 
sions, and  so  info  the  early  records  of  the  comity.  There 
was  no  life  inner  ol  the  legislature  from  Doniphan  named 
Brown,  nor  from  that  part  of  the  Territory,  during  these 
early  sessions.  Brown  was  attached  to  Doniphan  at  the 
first  session,  and  detached  at  the  second.  In  the  act  de- 
taching, it  was  named  Brown  without  the  e. 

The  legislature,  at  its  second  session,  was  pro-slaver)-. 


1 1 1 SI  I i It  V OK 


and  could  not,  in  dropping  the  e,  have  made  the  change 
for  the  purpose  of  honoring  old  John  Brown.  No  formal 
act  in  regard  to  the  name  was  ever  passed,  other  than 
those  of  the  two  pro-slavery  legislatures.  The  succeeding 
legislatures,  in  acts  in  which  the  same  occurs,  have  simply 
followed  the  orthography  fixed  by  the  acts  of  1857. 

It  is  not  singular  that  Major  Morrill  should  have  fallen 
into  error  in  this  matter.  Doubtless  he  had  not,  at  the 
time,  taken  notice  of  the  precise  facts.  John  Brown’s 
“trail”  crossed  Brown  county.  It  is  a settled  tradition  in 
that  section  that  the  county  was  named  after  the  old  mar- 
tyr. It  gives  me  no  pleasure  to  dispel  the  error. 

Yours,  F.  G Adams, 

Sec.  State  Hist.  Society.” 

This  seems  improbable,  for  in  the  act  defining  the 
the  boundaries,  the  name  is  spelled  with  a final  e ; and  in 
the  laws  of  that  session  as  well  as  in  the  laws  of  the  pro- 
slavery  legislature  of  1857,  it  is,  without  exception,  spelled 
with  the  terminal  e.  It  seems  hardly  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  a legislative  body  desiring  to  honor  a distin- 
guished man  by  giving  to  a new  county  his  name  would 
fail  to  follow  his  orthography  in  the  spelling  of  that  name. 
Among  the  early  settlers  of  the  county  it  was  generally 
reported  and  universally  accepted  as  a fact,  that  the  coun- 
ty wras  named  in  honor  of  ().  H.  Browne, a prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  legislature  of  1855,  who  represented  Douglas 
county,  tn  support  of  this  side  of  the  question,  the  fol- 
lowing letters  are  given  from  influential  members  of  that 
legislature,  now  living  in  the  State.  J.  H.  Stringlellow, 
of  Atchison,  writes  the  Champion  as  follows: 

“Mn.  Editor: — In  a communication  some  short  time 
since  in  your  valuable  paper  from  Judge  F.  G.  Adams, 
who  is  usually  so  correct,  there  is  an  error  regarding  the 
name  of  Brown  county,  which  should  be  corrected,  as  it  is 
likely  to  become  a part  of  the  future  history  of  Kansas.  I 
am  not  surprised  that  the  facts  have  become  confused,  as 
so  long  a time  has  elapsed,  and  such  tremendous  events 
have  intervened  since  their  occurrence.  The  name  of  the 


R ROWS'  COUNT V. 


county  was  originally  Browne,  after  a very  brilliant  and 
very  eccentric  member  of  the  House  at  the  time,  0.  H. 
Browne,  of  the  then  Third  Representative  District,  and  a 
resident  of  what  is  now  Douglas  county,  where  he  died 
some  few  years  since.  There  were  several  counties  named 
after  members  of  the  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  houses, 
viz.,  Johnson,  after  Rev.  Thos.  Johnson,  a member  of  the 
Council ; Lykins,  after  Rev.  David  Lykins,  of  the  Council,  an 
ex-Indian  missionary ; Coffey,  after  A.  M.  Coffey,  of  the 
Council  from  Kentucky;  Anderson,  after  Joseph  C.  Ander- 
son, of  the  House  ; Marshall,  after  F.  I.  Marshall,  of  the 
House. 

Of  the  above  gentlemen,  L think  only  two  are  now  liv- 
ing— F.  1.  Marshall,  now  of  Colorado,  an  enterprising,  in- 
telligent man,  and  highly  respected  ; and  J.  C.  Anderson, 
now,  I think,  of  Kentucky,  a very  intelligent  lawyer,  and 
all  of  them  men  of  unblemished  personal  character. 

J.  H.  String fkllow, 
Atchison,  Kan.” 

Col.  T.  W.  Waterson  also  adds  bis  testimony  in  the 
same  direction. 

‘‘Marysville,  Kan.,  June  28,  1870. 

Hon.  E.  X.  Morrill: — Dear  sir. — Yours  of  the  20th 
inst.  came  to  hand  last  evening.  in  reply  1 would  say 
that  my  recollection  is  very  clear  that  the  origin  and  rea- 
son of  your  county  being  called  Browne  Avas,  that  a man 
by  the  name  of  O.  H.  Browne  was  a member  of  the  legis- 
lature at  that  time,  and  was  very  desirous  of  having  a 
county  called  lor  him,  as  Avere  a good  many  other  mem- 
bers. For  instance,  Marshall,  Richardson,  Johnson,  Cof- 
fey, Lykins,  etc.,  were  all  named  after  members.  If  this 
does  not  coA-er  the  ground,  please  let  me  hear  from  you  and 
I Avill  try  and  give  all  the  information  I can. 

Yours  Truly,  Thos.  W.  Waterson.” 

Honorable  John  A.  Halderman,  of  Leavenworth,  also  a 
member  of  the  first  Legislature,  Avrites  : “My  recollection 

is  that  Browne  county  Avas  called  for  O.  H.  Browne,  a 
member  of  the  first  House  of  Representatives,  Avho  died,  a 


insionv  uk 


tew  years  since,  in  Osage;  and  not  for  Hon.  A.  G.  Brown, 
of  Mississippi.” 

This  would  seem  to  prove  conclusively  that  the  inten- 
tion of  the  first  legislature  was  to  honor  one  of  their  mem- 
bers by  giving  his  name  to  this  county.  Why  the  final  c 
was  subsequently  dropped  does  not  appear ; but  as  the 
name  is  spellled  Browne  wherever  it  appears  in  the  laws 
enacted  by  the  pro-slavery  legislatures  and  Brown  in  all 
the  laws  enacted  by  Free-state  legislatures,  it  is  fair  to 
presume  that  the  name  was  changed  for  political  reasons. 

In  the  early  records  of  Doniphan  county  the  following- 
entries  are  found  pertaining  to  Browne  county.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  commissioners  of  Doniphan  county,  on 
Monday,  the  17th  day  of  Sept.,  A.  D.  1855,  it  was  ordered 
that  the  county  of  Browne  be  and  it  is  hereby  organized  as 
a municipal  township  to  be  known  as  Browne  county 
township. 

Ordered,  That  the  Territorial  election  for  Delegate  to 
the  next  Congress  of  the  United  States  be  held  at  the 
house  of  W.  C.  Foster,  on  the  SouthFork  of  the  Nemaha  for 
the  county  of  Browne  and  that  Win.  C.  Foster,  Win.  Par- 
ked and  E.  W.  Short  be  appointed  judges  to  hold  the  same. 

Ordered,  That  a vote  of  the  people  be  taken  on  the  day 
of  the  territorial  election  authorizing  the  county  court  to 
grant  or  withhold  license  for  the  retail  of  ardent  spirits  in 
each  township.  It  may  be  printed  or  written  on  each 
ticket,  License,  or  No  License. 

Ordered,  That  John  C.  Boggs  and  Wm.  C.  Foster  be 
appointed  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  that  Wm.  Purket  be 
appointed  Constable  for  the  county  of  Brown,  in  the  terri- 
tory of  Kansas,  for,  and  during  the  term  prescribed  by 
law  and  until  their  successors  are  duly  elected  and  quali- 
fied. At  the  January  term,  1856,  the  following  orders 
were  passed.  Ordered  that  John  W.  Smith  be  and  he  is 
hereby  appointed  assessor  of  Brown  and  Doniphan  coun- 
ties for  and  during  the  term  prescribed  by  law  and  until 
his  successor  is  elected  and  qualified ; and  that  he  be  re- 
quested to  enter  into  bond  to  the  Territory  of  Kansas  in 


BROWN  COUNTY". 


the  penal  sum  of  four  hundred  dollars  conditioned  for 
the  faithful  performance  of  the  duties  of  his  office.  Order- 
ed, That  A.  Hays  be  and  lie  is  hereby  appointed  special 
Marshal  to  take  the  census  of  Doniphan  and  Brown  coun- 
ties during  the  term  prescribed  by  law. 

June  lt>.  1856,  the  following  orders  were  entered.  Or- 
dered, That  the  account  filed  with  the  clerk  of  this  court 
by  Henry  Adams  and  R.  L.  Kirk,  commissioners  to  locate 
a Territorial  road  from  Atchison  to  Marysville,  amounting 
to  one  hundred  and  four  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents 
against  Brown  county  for  surveying  said  road  through 
said  county  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  audited  and  allowed 
against  said  county;  and  that  the  clerk  of  this  Tribunal  be 
and  he  is  hereby  authorized  to  issue  warrants  on  Brown 
county  and  in  favor  of  the  several  persons  whose  names  are 
mentioned  in  the  account.  Ordered,  That  the  court  will 
not  allow  the  items  in  the  above  account  for  use  of  tent 
and  cooking  utensils  and  provisions,  amounting  to  $12.93. 

Here  follows  a long  report  of  the  road  commissioners  of 
the  road  above  referred  to. 

July  22,  1856,  an  order  was  parsed  directing  the  county 
surveyor  to  survey  and  mark  out  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween Brown  and  Doniphan  counties.  On  the  16th  of 
Sept.,  1856,  several  orders  were  passed  pertaining  to 
Brown  county.  Among  them  was  one  that  the  assessor 
should  file  seperate  bills  for  assessing  against  Doniphan 
and  Brown  counties  and  his  assessment  rolls  should  be  re- 
ceived provided  that  pre-emption  claims  and  shares  in 
joint  stock  companies  not  incorporated  shall  not  be  taxed. 
It.  was  also  ordered  that  township  ranges  numbered  15 
and  16  in  Brown  county  be  and  they  arc  hereby  constitu- 
ted a municipal  township,  to  be  known  as  Walnut  town- 
ship ; and  that  an  election  for  members  to  the  next  legisla- 
tive assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  to  be  held  at  the 
house  of  W.  C.  Roster,  in  said  township,  on  the  1st  Mon- 
day in  October  next,  and  that  W.  C.  Foster, 

and be  and  they  are  hereby  appointed  judges 

to  hold  said  election.  Ordered  that  township  ranges  17 


1 


lo  lllSToiiY  OF 

and  IS  be  and  they  are  hereby  constituted  a municipal 
township  to  be  known  as  Mission  township  and  that  an 
election  for  members  of  the  next  Legislative  assembly  of 
the  Territory  of  Kansas  be  hold  at  the  house  of  Henry 
Smith,  on  the  1st  Monday  of  October  next,  within  and  tor 

said  township,  and  that  Henry  Smith, Thompson 

and  James  Smith  be  and  they  are  hereby  appointed  judges 
to  the  same.  Ordered  that  the  rate  of  tax  for  county  pur- 
poses for  Brown  county  for  the  present  year  shall  be  fifty 
cents  for  each  poll  and  one-sixth  of  one  per  cent  on  all 
other  taxable  property.  On  the  17th  of  Nov.,  1856,  the 
the  account  of  John  W.  Smith  for  assessing  Brown  county 
was  allowed,  amounting  to  $48.  The  foregoing,  with  the 
exception  ol  a few  orders  pertaining  to  road  and  personal 
matters,  *eem  to  be  all  the  orders  of  the  commissioners 
of  Doniphan  county  relating  to  Brown  county  business. 

On  page  44  of  laws  of  1857,  the  boundaries  of  the 
county  are  again  given,  correcting  the  errors  in  the 
laws  of  1855,  and  the  name  is  still  spelled  with  an  e.  On 
page  84  of  the  same  session  laws  is  an  act  approved  Feb. 
— , which  reads  as  folllows  : That  t lie  county  of  Browne, 

which  is  attached  to  the  county  of  Doniphan  is  hereby  de- 
tached from  said  county  of  Doniphan.  That  Claytonville 
be  the  temporary  seat  of  justice  of  Browne  county.  That  at 
the  first  general  election  there  shall  be  three  commission- 
ers elected,  who  shall,  after  first  taking  an  oath,  etc.,  pro- 
ceed to  locate  the  permanent  scat  of  justice.  That  the 
present  legislature  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas  shall  elect  a 
Probate  Judge,  Sheriff  and  two  commissioners  for  Browne 
county,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  until  the  general  elec- 
tion in  October,  1857,  and  until  their  successors  are  elect- 
ed and  qualified.  During  the  same  session  of  the  legisla- 
ture Geo.  E.  Clayton  was  elected  Probate  Judge  of  Browne 
county — the  Probate  Judge  being,  under  the  then  existing 
law,  chairman  of  the  county  commissioners  court.  Henry 
Smith  and  D.  M.  Lochnane  were  elected  commissioners, 
but  as  Mr.  Lochnane  was  not  a resident  of  the  county  at 
the  time,  this  left  a vacancy  in  the  board  which  was  not, 


P.KOWX  COUNTY. 


11 


however,  filled.  Pettus  Thompson  was  elected  Sheriff, 
hut  lie  declined  the  office  and  did  not  qualify.  The  court 
thus  constituted  formally  organized  and  held  a session  at 
Claytonville  on  the  16th  day  of  March,  1857,  in  a small 
log  house  which  is  still  standing  and  which  now  forms  a 
part  of  the  residence  of  0.  C.  Whitney,  Esq.  This  was 
the  first  court  ever  held  in  Brown  county,  and  this  log  hut 
was  the  first  court  house.  The  first  act  of  the  court  was 
to  appoint  James  Waterson  clerk.  James  A.  Fulton  was 
appointed  Sheriff,  but  later  in  the  day  this  appointment 
was  for  some  reason  rescinded  and  at  the  following  ses- 
sion he  was  again  appointed.  John  Dunbar  was  appointed 
Treasurer  and  E.  M.  Hubbard,  Coronor.  Dunbar  proba- 
bly declined  to  act,  as  at  the  next  session  of  the  court 
Richard  L.  Oldham  was  appointed  Treasurer.  The  court 
then  divided  the  county  into  four  municipal  townships, 
nearly  equal  in  extent  of  territory,  naming  the  N.  E. 
to " n.ship  Irving,  the  S.  E.  Claytonville,  the  S.  W.  Loch- 
nane  and  the  N.  W.  Walnut  Creek.  Ira  H.  Smith  was  ap- 
pointed county  surveyor  but  he  refused  to  accept  any  ap- 
pointment at  the  hands  of  this  court,  holding  that  the 
legislature  that  provided  for  the  organization  of  the  coun- 
ty was  forced  upon  the  territory  by  fraud  and  violence. 
Joseph  A.  Brown  was  appointed  assessor  and  M.  C.  Willis, 
Justice  of  the  Peace.  At  the  next  session  of  this  court, 
held  March  81,  1857,  it  was  ordered  that  John  H.  White- 
head  have  a license  to  sell  intoxicating  liquors  at  his  store 
in  Kinnekuk  for  six  months  from  April  1,  1857,  upon  pay- 
ment of  $25.  As  Kinnekuk  was  just  over  the  line  in  Atch- 
ison county  and  entirely  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  this 
tribunal,  it  was  evidently  a clear  gain  of  $25  to  the  county. 
At  the  same  session  of  the  court  it  was  ordered  that  $500 
be  appropriated  for  the  building  of  a court  house  on  the 
north  square  in  Claytonville,  said  house  to  be  a frame  80 
feet  long  and  20  feet  wide  and  to  be  enclosed  by  1st  of  June, 
1857.  Richard  L.  Oldham  was  appointed  commissioner  to 
build  this  house.  A tax  levy  was  made  at  this  session  of  one- 
sixth  ot  one  per  cent  for  county  purposes,  and  one-sixth  of 


IIISTOUV  ()!•' 


•Vi 

one  per  cent  for  Imikling  purposes.  Under  an  act  ot  the 
pro-slavery  legislature  all  persons  who  settled  upon  secs. 
Id  and  36  (school  land)  before  the  survey  of  the  public 
lands,  were  required  to  prove  their  settlement  before  the 
county  court  and  pay  to  the  county  Treasurer  #1.2.)  per 
acre  for  such  lands — the  money  thus  received  to  be  made 
a permanent  school  fund.  Quite  a number  of  the  early 
settlers  of  the  county — M.  L.  Sawin,  Thomas  Brigham, 
John  Page,  Jos.  Farron,  Ely  Corneilison,  F.  M.  Starns, 
1 sane  H.  Barkley  and  Nathaniel  Kimbcrlin  proved  their  set- 
tlement before  the  county  court  but  the  U.  S.  Government 
refused  torccognize  this  disposition  of  the  lands  and  re- 
quired the  parties  to  prove  their  settlement  at  the  U.  S. 
Land  Office,  treating  these  lands  as  Government  lands  and 
not  school  lands.  At  the  session  of  this  court  held  May 
18,  1857,  E.  H.  Niles,  Thurston  Chase,  Noah  Hanson  and 
others  petitioned  to  have  school  districts  organized  in  town 
2,  rangelti.  This  seems  to  be  the  first  action  overtaken 
in  the  county  towards  organizing  school  districts  and  came 
from  a section  of  the  county  which  tor  many  years  took  the 
lead  in  educational  matters.  The  next  day  a petition  was 
presented  from  the  settlers'  in  town  8,  range  18  to  have 
that  township  organized  into  school  districts.  The  re- 
cords fail  to  show  who  the  petitioners  were.  At  this  time 
voting  precincts  were  established  for  the  county,  at  house 
of  W.  C.  Foster,  for  Walnut  Creek  township;  at  house  of 
J.  B.  Heaton,  at  Mt.  Roy,  for  Irving  township  ; at  house 
of  C.  W.  Magi  1 1 , for  Loclmane  township  ; and  at  hotel  in 
Claytonville  for  that  township. 

Lewis  Dunn  was  appointed  Justice  of  the  Peace  at  this 
session.  Petitions  for  roads  were  presented  and  necessary 
action  taken  to  establish  them  at  each  session  of  the  com- 
missioners’ court  during  the  whole  year  of  1857.  At  the 
next  session  of  the  court,  held  July  20,  Leander  Sawyer 
and  John  G.  Spencer  were  appointed  Justices  ot  the  Peace. 
The  Sheriff  .of  the  county,  who  was,  by  virtue  of  his  office, 
collector  of  taxes,  submitted  a report  for  the  year  1850,  a 
copy  of  which  is  herewith  given  in  full. 


RKOWN  cor  N r V. 


15 


Brown  Co.,  Kansas  Territory  : 

Ln  aec’t  with  James  A.  Fulton, 
1857.  Collector  of  said  county. 

Cr.  By  the  tax  hook  of  1856  #106.41 

“ J.  H.  Whitehead’s  license  25.00 

“ G.  W.  Williams’  “ * 25.00 


8156.41 

Dr.  To  per  centage  for  collecting  revenue  -$7.40 

“ “ “ “ “ License  1 .00 


$8.40 

Of  the  above  account  there  is  due  to  John  W.  Smith, 
Assessor  of  Brown  county,  - $38.60 

There  is  lost  of  the  revenue  ot  the  county  by  error  of  the 
assessor  assessing  persons  out  of  the  county  and  delin- 
qdent  as  per  my  return  $69.51 

And  there  is  in  my  hands,  belonging  to  the  Territory, 
the  sum  of,  less  percentage  and  mileage,  $64.91 

James  A.  Fulton, 

Sheriff  and  Collector  of  Brown  Co. 
The  returns  of  the  Sheriff  show  that  twenty-two  persons 
were  illegally  assessed,  not  being  residents  of  the  Territo- 
ry on  the  1st  of  March,  the  time  from  which  the  assess- 
ment dated.  These  persons  were  charged  with  a tax  of 
$54.34,  which  being  deducted  from  the  full  amount  of  the 
tax  books  for  the  year  leaves  a legal  tax  for  the  whole  of 
Browne  county  for  the  year  1856  of  $52.07.  As  it  is  be- 
fore shown  that  John  W.  Smith  was  allowed  by  Doniphan 
county  court  $48  for  making  the  assessment,  and  Jgriies 
A.  Fulton  was  allowed  $7.40  for  collecting  the  saipfe,  the 
total  taxes  that  year  failed  to  pay  for  assessment  ahd  col- 
lection, by  $3.33  ; and  Browne  county  was  $3.33  poorer 
after  collecting  the  tax  than  it  was  before  the  assessment. 

In  August,  1857,  the  commissioner  appointed  to  con- 
tract for  building  a court  house  reported  that  he  had 
contracted  with  A.  Heed  to  build  a house  for  $5.JU  ; that 
the  work  was  done,  the  building  received,  and  that  Heed 
was  entitled  to  his  money.  This  was  the  first  court  house 
owned  by  the  county.  It  did  not  prove  a very  paying  in- 


14 


HISTORY  OK 


vestment,  as  the  county  sold  it  not  long  after,  to  Sam'l  W. 
Wade,  for  $100.  On  the  19th  of  October,  1857,  this  court 
held  its  last  session,  and  the  reign  of  the  pro-slavery 
dynasty  was  forever  ended  in  Browne  county.  While  the 
free-state  men,  who,  during  the  whole  term  of  their  reign, 
from  March  to  November,  were  largely  in  the  majority, 
firmly  believed  that  the  legislature  that  elected  these  men 
was  utterly  illegal  and  without  any  just  power  to  act,  they 
wisely  concluded  that  it  was  better  to  quietly  submit  for 
the  short  time  that  would  elapse  before  the  election  would 
be  held,  than  to  jeopardize  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  com- 
munity and  retard  the  material  interests  of  the  county  by 
resistance  to  the  powers  in  authority.  Simple  justice  to 
these  commissioners  demands  that  it  should  be  here  stated 
that  the  free-state  men  had  no  occasion  to  complain  of  the 
conduct  of  this  court,  and  that  they  were  not  governed  In- 
partisan  feelings  in  their  acts— leading  free-state  men  be- 
ing repeatedly  appointed  to  positions  of  honor  and  trust. 
Up  to  this  time,  (Oct.,  1807)  but  three  elections  had  been 
held  in  the  county  under  the  territorial  laws.  The  first 
was  on  the  first  day  of  October,  1855,  at  which  there  were 
four  votes  cast,  all  being  for  J.  W.  Whitfield  for  Delegate 
to  Congress.  This  is  the  first  recorded  vote  in  the  county 
and  is  without  doubt  the  first  election  ever  held  within  its 
borders.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  candidates  for  office  were 
correspondingly  scarce  or  the  four  poor  fellows  who  were 
entitled  to  the  rights  of  suffrage  would  have  been  “bored” 
to  death.  The  next  election  was  on  the  bth  of  October. 
185G,  for  Delegate  to  Congress  and  members  of  the  legis- 
lature. At  this  election  J.  W.  Whitfield  had  lb  votes  for 
Delegate  and  X.  K.  Stout,  B.  0.  Driscoll  and  T.  W.  Wa- 
terson,  all,  at  that  time,  residents  ot  Doniphan  county,  re- 
ceived 17  votes  for  members  of  legislature.  On  the  18th 
of  June,  1857,  an  election  was  held  to  select  two  delegates 
to  attend  a Constitutional  Convention  to  be  held  at  Le- 
compton.  At  this  election,  Henry  Smith  received  8b 
votes  and  Cyrus  Dolman  44  votes  in  the 

district  comprising  Brown  and  Nemaha  counties. 


liKOW  X COL' NT  V. 


15 


None  of  these  elections  really  give  any  just  idea  of  the  num- 
ber of  voters  in  the  county  at  the  times  o>'  the  elections,  as 
the  free-state  men  of  the  county,  acting  in  harmony  with 
their  party  throughout  the  Territory,  steadily  refused  to  vote. 
The  act  of  the  legislature  providing  for  the  election  of  del- 
egates to  a Constitutional  Convention  also  provided  for  the 
taking  of  a census.  This  was  done  in  Browne  county  by 
Geo.  E.  Clayton,  Probate  Judge,  there  being  then  no  Sher- 
iff. There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  was  accomplished 
with  as  much  accuracy  as  is  usual  in  such  enumerations. 
He  gave  the  number  of  voters  at  205,  but  made  no  return 
of  the  whole  number  of  inhabitants.  Counting  three  in- 
habitants to  each  voter,  which  at  that  time  would  be  a 
very  liberal  estimate,  as  a large  number  of  single  men 
were  in  the  county  taking  ^claims,”  the  whole  population 
of  the  county  could  not  exceed  015.  On  the  5th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1857,  the  territorial  election  for  that  year  was  held, 
and  as  the  free-state  men  were  at  the  polls  in  full  force,  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  a full  vote  was  cast.  At  this  election 
W.  G.  Sargent  was  elected  Probate  Judge ; A.  B.  Ander- 
son and  Jacob  Englehart,  County  Commissioners ; Moses 
P.  Proctor,  Treasurer;  Franklin  O.  Sawin,  Sheriff,  by  a 
vote  of  130  to  72 — the  vote  by  townships  being  as  follows  : 

FREE  STATE.  PRO-SLAVERY. 


Walnut  Creek 
Loelmanc 

1 


rving 


46 

10 

43 


o 

11 


Claytonville  37  35 

By  this  vote  the  control  of  the  county  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  free-state  men,  and  the  pro-slave ryites  were 
ever  after  in  a hopeless  minority. 

Browne  and  Nemaha  counties  at  this  time  constituted 
the  4th  and  5th  Rep.  districts  and  were  entitled  to  one 
member.  K N.  Morrill  was  elected,  receiving  283  votes 
while  E.  M.  Hubbard,  the  Democratic  candidate  received 
102  votes. 

Turning  from  a consideration  of  the-  political  organiza- 
tion of  the  county,  your  attention  is  invited  to  that  of  its 


DARBY  SETTLEMENT. 


It  is  hardly  probable  that  any  white  man  was  living' 
in  the  county  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  Ivansas- 
Nebraska  Bill.  Near  its  eastern  line,  in  Doniphan  county, 
an  Indian  Mission  had  been  in  existence  for  years,  at 
which  several  white  persons  resided.  One  ol  the  overland 
routes  to  California,  or  as  it  is.  more  familiarly  .mown,  the 
“California  Trail,”  entered  the  county  on  its  eastern  bor- 
der, nearly  midway  north  and  south,  and  wound  along  on 
the  divides,  avoiding  all  streams  on  account  oi  difficulty  in 
crossing ; passing  on  the  north  of  Drummond’s  Branch, 
crossing  the  western  part  of  the  present  site  of  Hiawatha, 
then  following  the  divide  between  the  head  waters  of  the 
Wolf  and  Walnut,  left  the  county  near  the  present  site  of 
Sabctha.  Hundreds  of  teams  and  thousands  of  persons 
had  probably  passed  over  this  trail  during  the  five  preced- 
ing years,  on  their  weary  journey  to  the  gold  mines  of  the 
Pacific  Coast.  A gentleman  who  made  the  trip  in  io-,1), 
afterwards  related  that  while  his  party,  consist.ng  of  thirty 
men,  were  camping  near  the  head  oi'  Drummond  s Branch, 
he,  with  two  others,  smarted  out  in  search  of  game,  and  as 
they  came  upon  the  high  prairie  in  sight  of  the  timber  at 
the  northwest  and  at  the  south,  they  discovered  a small 
herd  of  buffalo,  and,  alter  a short  chase,  succeeded  m -.Ai- 
ling one  in  the  timber  nearly  east  of  where  Hiawatha  now 
stands.  From  this  description  of  the  point  where  the 
buffalo  were  first  discovered,  it  would  seem  as  though  it 
must  have  been  on  or  near  the  present  site  of  Hiawatha  ; 
and  the  wood  where  it  was  .oiled  was  probably  on  or  near 
the  farm  now  owned  by  Dr.  Seburn.  Nothing  oi  interest 
can  be  related  of  the  county  prior  to  its  settlement  by  the 
whites.  While  the  Indians,  doubtless,  roamed  over 
its  prairies  and  limited  in  the  beautiful  woods 
that  skirt  its  streams,  there  is  an  utter  barren- 


i'.KOWX  ( U'l'N  I V. 


ness  of  romantic  traditions  and  the  conclusion  is  inevitable 
that  the  redskins  who  hunted  deer  in  Brown  county  were 
very  common  place  Indians  among  whom  it  would  have 
puzzled  Cooper  to  find  a hero,  or  Longfellow  a Hiawatha 
to  woo  the  lovely  Minnehaha.  There  is  a tradition  that  a 
battle  of  some  magnitude  was  fought  a mile  or  two  east  of 
our  present  county  seat,  near  a spring  on  the  farm  now 
owned  by  W.  S.  Hall,  Esq.,  and  the  early  settlers  report 
that  they  found  skulls  scattered  around  there  and,  there- 
fore. they  named  it  “Skull  Spring.”  To  determine  with 
any  degree  of  certainty  who  was  the  hirst  settler  is  nearly 
impossible.  A dozen  men  may  have  settled  at  the  same 
time  in  different  sections  of  the  county,  unknown  to  each 
other.  Many  of  the  old  settlers  who  are  now  living  in  the 
county  can  only  tell  the  month  they  came  ; and  scores 
who  settled  here  in  the  early  days  became  dissatisfied  and 
sought  other  and  fairer  fields,  while  many  have,  doubtless, 
travelled  that,  journey  from  which  no  weary  traveler  has 
ever  returned.  To  give  the  names  of  those  who  are  known 
to  have  been  pioneers  in  opening  this  county  to  settlement 
and  to  leave  the  question  of  priority  open,  seems  the  only 
true  course  to  pursue.  Many  came  in  from  Missouri, 
marked  claims,  made  some  slight  improvements  and  re- 
turned to  their  homes  to  harvest  their  crops,  previously 
planted  there,  and  to  spend  the  winter.  Others,  coming 
from  a greater  distance,  made  permanent  settlements  at 
once.  On  the  11th  day  of  May,  1H54,  Thurston  Chase  and 
James  Gibbons  marked  claims  on  Wolf  River,  ihc  former 
taking  the  farm  now  owned  by  Mr.  Pittman.  They  re- 
mained on  their  land  two  or  three  weeks,  seeing  no  white 
man  during  that  time.  Mr.  Chase  broke  several  acres  of 
prairie,  and,  returning  in  August,  built,  a small  log  house 
which  afterwards  burned  down.  On  the  loth  of  May,  C.  H. 

1 selv  and  Peter  and  Christ  Luginbuhl  left  St.  Joseph  on  foot 
to  explore  the  section  of  country  lying  west  ot  that  city.  The 
second  day  they  passed  the  I ndian  Mission,  near  Highland, 
and  at  noon  stopped  to  rest  and  take  their  dinner  on  the  tit- 
le stream  three  miles  west  of  Highland.  That  evening  when 


18 


HISTOKY  OF 


a few  miles  east  of  Hiawatha  they  were  overtaken  by  a 
terrible  storm  and  before  they  could  reach  the  friendly 
shelter  of  the  timber,  night  set  in  and  they  were  obliged  to 
remain  on  the  prairie,  unprotected  from  the  storm  during 
the  night,  which  proved  a very  dark  and  rainy  one.  To 
make  it  still  more  uncomfortable,  they  discovered,  during 
the  night,  by  the  vivid  flashes  of  lightning,  a small  band  of 
Indians  with  their  ponies,  near  by  them.  When  morning 
came,  Mr.  fsely  proposed  to  continue  the  journey  ; but  the 
others,  thouroughly  disgusted  with  their  first  experience  in 
pioneer  life,  refused  to  go  farther,  and  the  party  returned 
to  St.  Joseph.  Ln  June,  1854,  W.  C.  Foster  settled  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Nemaha  county,  passing  over  Brown  coun- 
ty, under  the  impression  that  it  was  Indian  Trust  lands. 
A few  months  later,  learning  his  mistake,  he  settled  where 
he  now  lives.  On  August  5,  of  that  year.  E.  II.  Corneili- 
son  took  a claim  on  Walnut  Creek  and  on  the  1 1th  of  the 
next  March  moved  upon  it  with  his  family.  His  brother 
Wallace  came  at  the  same  time.  Thomas  Brigham  toon  a 
claim  near  Padonia  at  about  the  same  time,  and  moved 
his  family  into  the  county  the  following  spring.  Henry 
Gragg  settled  in  Powhattan  township  that  fall,  and  Isaac 
Sawin  and  his  son  Marcellus  settled  on  the  farm  now 
owned  by  Jacob  Hayward  and  immediately  commenced 
improving  it.  Job  a Belk  and  his  sons,  William  and  King, 
took  claims  near  Padonia,  in  November.  James  L.  Wilson, 

William  and  Thomas  Duncan,  and  Farmer  settled 

near  Robinson  that  summer  or  fall.  William  and  James 
Metis  took  claims  on  Poney  Creek,  in  November.  Jacob 
Englehart  settled  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  B.  F. 
Partch,  near  Hiawatha,  and  Benj.  Winkles  and  Ins  sons, 
Geo.  G.  and  Benj.  Jr.,  settled  on  Walnut  Creex  in  the  au- 
tumn of  that  year.  Robert  Rhea,  who  now  lives  Southeast 
of  Sabetha,  took  a claim  in  18o4.  The  winter  of  18o4 — oo 
was  a remarkably  mild  one,  the  ground  remaining  so  free 
from  trost  that  plowing  could  be  done  during  the  entire 
winter.  In  1855,  quite  a number  made  homes  in  the  new 
county.  It  is  impossible  to  give  a full  or  complete  list  of 


B150WN  COUNTY. 


11* 


the  names  of  all  who  settled  in  the  county  during  this 
year.  Among  them  were  Amasa  Owen,  who  marked  the 
first  road  from  Hiawatha  to  Walnut  Creek,  a year  later  ; 
Joseph  Dean,  Jesse  Strange,  J.  K.  Bunn,  who  was  one  of 
the  first  constables  in  the  county ; Henry  Woodward, 
James  W.  Belts,  John  G.  Spencer,  Jesse  Duval,  Henry 
Smith,  afterwards  one  of  the  county  commissioners  of  the 
county,  who  brought  with  him  three  slaves — a negro 
woman  named  Lena,  and  her  two  children  ; J.  Peevy, 
Spencer  Bentley,  Geo.  Roberts,  Clifton  Gentry,  E.  W. 
Short,  Loyd  Ashby,  Thomas  Hart,  W.  P.  and  W.  J.  Proc- 
tor, Stephen  Hughes  and  family — Mrs.  Hughes  being  the 
first  white  woman  in  Robinson  township ; A.  B.  Anderson, 
Ole  Nelson,  James  Bridgman,  Win.  Nash,  who  died  in 
Dec.,  1856;  E.  Huffman,  Rudolph  Zimmerman,  Christian 
Zimmerman,  John  Moser,  John  Wilhoit,  Bradford  Swean- 
gen,  Sol  McCall,  T.  J.  Kenyon,  John  Sperry,  Squire  Grif- 
feth,  J.  A.  Alford,  Thomas  Strange,  John  & Wm.  Vincent, 
Frank  J.  Robbins,  John  Poe,  Wm.  Purket,  John  Boggs, 
who  died  in  May,  1857,  and  John  Schmidt.  John  S.  Ty- 
ler, afterwards  assessor  and  county  commissioner,  settled 
upon  the  farm  where  he  now  lives.  Enoch  Painter,  Phil- 
ip Weiss,  Isaac  Chase,  J.  J.  Weltmer,  Jonathan  Soden, 
Isaac  Oxier,  Wm.  Webb,  James  Smith,  James  Cameron, 
James  Watcrson,  T.  J.  Drummond,  John  Page,  Daniel 
Miller. 

Early  in  1855,  the  settlers  on  Walnut  Creek  formed  a 
protective  association,  chose  officers  and  enacted  laws  for 
the  government  of  the  new  community.  Rigid  laws  were 
enacted  by  this  association  to  protect  its  members  in  their 
claims  and  it  has  been  intimated  that  these  laws  were 
frequently  stretched  to  protect  them  in  holding  two  or 
three  claims  each.  The  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  to  the 
Indians  was  strictly  prohibited.  The  first  trial  for  violat- 
ing this  code  took  place  at  the  house  of  Jesse  Padon — a 
small  log  hut  which  all  the  settlers  prior  to  1862  will  re- 
member as  standing  on  the  banks  of  the  Walnut  near 
Schmidt’s  saw  mill.  Complaint  had  been  made  that  Rob- 


hist  >i;v  of 


erf  Boyd  and  Elisha,  Osborn  had  been  selling  whiskey  to 
the  Indians.  The  settlers,  sixteen  in  number,  had  gath- 
ered with  the  linn  determination  to  enforce  their  laws  at 
all  hazards  ; hut  one  in  the  whole  settlement  was  absent 
and  ho  was  too  ill  to  attend.  When  they  were  ready  to 
proceed,  E.  R.  Corneilison  called  their  attention  to  the 
fact;  that  the  accused  were  not  present,  and  asked  that 
they  be  sent  for.  This  was  very  summarily  overruled  and 
the  trial  went  on.  Witnesses  were  examined  ; the  testi- 
mony was  direct  and  to  the  point  ; and  after  a very  brief 
deliberation  a verdict  of  guilty  was  rendered  and  it,  was 
decided  that  the  stock  of  liquors  held  by  these  men  should 
lie  destroyed,  and  that  they  should  pay  a fine  of  twenty 
dollars  and  leave  the  county  at  once.  Padon  was  ap- 
pointed to  carry  out  the  sentence  and  the  others  all  went, 
along  to  assist  in  enforcing  the  law.  The  house  in  which 
Boyd  & Osborn  kept  their  liquors  stood  at  the  edge  of 
Pilot  Grove,  about  three  miles  from  Padonia.  When  the 
squad  arrived  at  the  house  the  accused  were  called  out 
and  informed  that  they  had  been  tried,  convicted  and  sen- 
tenced and  that  the  officers  of  the  law  were  then  and  there 
prepared  to  enforce  the  order.  They  replied  that  they 
would  cheerfully  give  up  their  liquors  and  pay  the  line  but 
begged  not  to  be  forced  to  leave  their  homes.  They  also 
promised  faithfully  that  they  would  never  again  be  guilty 
of  a like  act.  After  the  party  had  duly  considered  the 
matter,  and  taken  a “snifter”  all  around,  they  concluded 
that  it  was  too  bad  to  waste  such  valuable  property,  so  the 
parties  paid  the  tine  of  twenty  dollars,  promised  to  sell  no 
more  fire-water  to  the  Indians,  and  were  allowed  to  retain 
their  liquors  and  remain  at  their  homes.  The  twenty 
dollars  was  equally  divided  among  the  posse,  each  receiv- 
ing $1 .2d  for  his  day’s  work  and  all  returned  to  their 
homes. 

On  the  loth  of  September,  1855,  Joanna  Duncan, 
daughter  of  William  Duncan,  was  born.  She  was  proba- 
bly the  first  white  child  born  in  the  county.  On  the  2Uth 
of  September  John  Bunn,  son  of  J.  K.  JJunn  was  born. 


13K0WN  COUNTV. 


31 

Iii  October  of  the  same  year  a sou  was  born  to  John 
Morse,  under  circumstances  so  peculiar  that  they  deserve 
a record  in  these  sketches.  The  preceding  March  he  had 
moved  his  family  from  St.  Joseph  to  a claim  on  Wolt. 
Too  poor  to  own  a team,  he  had  hired  one  to  bring  him- 
self, wife  and  four  little  ones  to  the  first  home  he  could 
ever  call  his  own.  In  a grove  on  Wolf  Creek,  east  of 
Robinson,  he  set  up  housekeeping — his  total  earthly  store 
consisting  of  one  quilt,  a skillet,  a barrel  and  a gun.  He 
soon  built  a rude  cabin  out  of  rail-cuts  and  small  poles, 
making  it  10  feet  square  and  covering  it  with  “shakes” 
rifted  from  the  sturdy  oaks.  Morse  is  represented  as  an 
inoffensive,  kind-hearted  man,  but  far  more  inclined  to 
rove  and  hunt  than  to  settle  down  to  the  hard  toil  neces- 
sary to  make  a home  in  the  wilds.  While  lie  was  away  on 
one  of  his  hunting  excursions,  his  wife  was  confined. 
Conscious  that  the  time  was  fast  approaching  in  which 
another  immortal  soul  would  be  ushered  into  existence, 
she  sent  the  children  to  the  woods  to  gather  wild  grapes, 
and  hastily  arranging  her  rude  and  scanty  couch,  was 
delivered  of  a healthy,  living  child.  With  no  friendly 
hand  to  render  her  the  slightest  assistance,  she  cared  for 
herself,  and  when  the  children  returned  from  the  woods 
she  presented  them  with  a little  brother  anu  went  on  with 
her  usual  household  duties. 

In  18d6,  the  troubled,  excited  state  of  political  affairs 
prevented  any  large  immigration  to  the  Territory.  The 
border  counties  were  controlled  by  organized  bands  of 
border  ruffians,  who  would  suffer  no  outspoken  free-state 
man  to  remain  in  the  Territory  ; to  such  the  very  decisive 
alternative  was  given — leave  or  die.  The  infamous  Rich- 
ardson with  his  band  of  cutthroats  made  occasional  raids 
on  the  eastern  border  of  the  county,  keeping  the  settlers 
in  a constant  state  of  terror.  Many  an  old  settler  remem- 
bers well  the  long  and  weaiy  nights  spent  in  the  corn 
fields  and  woods  when  he  dared  not  remain  under  his  roof. 
All  had  dogs,  and  the  barking  of  these  faithful  guardians 
at  night  was  a signal  for  the  settler  to  take  unceremonious- 


IIISToKY  OK 


ly  to  the  brush,  trusting  tliat  the  scoumlrels  who  were 
hunting  his  life  would  have  manliness  enough  to  leave 
unharmed  his  wile  and  dear  ones.  Fortunately  for  the 
good  name  of  Brown  county,  there  were  no  serious  out- 
breaks within  its  borders.  The  honest,  sober,  industrious 
citizens  ot  both  sides  did  all  in  their  power  to  preserve  the 
peace  and  prevent  any  violation  of  the  law  and  the  kindli- 
est feelings  existed  between  neighbors  who  were  directly 
opposed  to  each  other  politically. 

ft  has  not  been  possible  to  get  a full  list  of  the  settlers 
of  1856,  but  among  them  were  E.  IT.  Niles,  Sam T and 

Frank  Myers,  Wm.  Leper,  Chas.  Smith, Wheeler, 

Newton  Barnes  and  his  brother,  Stephen  Pilot,  Caleb 
Magill,  Jonathan  Scott,  IV.  S.  Hill,  Simeon  Wilkinson, 
Isaac  Perkins,  Lewis  C.  Dunn,  John  Schmidt,  D.  McFar- 
land, Wm.  Gardner,  David  Peebles.  Wm.  McBride,  John 

McGuire,  M.  C.  Willis,  C.  Goff  and  Goff,  Wm.  and 

James  Ross,  Dr.  Nesbit,  John  II.  Maxwell. 

In  the  summer  and  fall  of  1856  several  of  the  afterwards 
prominent  town  sites  were  located.  Carson  was  laid  out 
by  D.  McFarland  and  others.  Padonia,  Plymouth  and 
Lexington  were  selected  by  Gen.  J.  II.  Lane,  and  his 
associates.  Lane  had  about  forty  men  with  him  all  well 
armed  with  Sharps  rifles  and  revolvers.  They  also  had  a 
small  piece  of  artillery,  which  they  buried  on  Poney  Creek 
when  they  left  the  Territory  at  a later  day.  Repeated  but 
unsuccessful  efforts  were  made  a few  years  afterwards  to 
find  this  cannon  and  from  later  developments  it  seems 
probable  that  it  was  secretly  removed  by  members  of  the 
company  who  had  assisted  in  burying  it.  At  Plymouth  rude 
breastworks  were  thrown  up  for  protection  in  case  of  at- 
tack, and  at  Lexington  a small  fort  of  hewn  logs  was  erect- 
ed. Rumors  of  advancing  forces  of  border  ruffians  were  in 
frequent  circulation  and  the  settlers  as  well  as  Lane  and 
his  command  were  in  a constant  state  of  excitement. 

Claytonville  was  laid  off  in  the  fall  of  1856  by  Geo.  E. 
Clayton  and  others. 

John  Sehmidt  that  year  built  a saw  mill  on  the  Walnut, 


i’kowx  ( or  \ r v. 


near  Padonia,  and  a substantial  dam  was  erected  ; but  all 
vestige  of  mill  and  dam  has  long  since  disappeared.  The 
first  school  ever  1 aught  in  the  county  was  in  185b.  The 
school  house  was  a small  log  cabin,  which  then  stood  on 
farm  of  John  lvrey,  and  the  teacher  was  Samuel  C. 
Shields,  Esq.,  now  an  honored  citizen  of  Highland.  This 
cabin  was  built  in  1855  and  was  also  used  as  a church. 
Religious  services  were  held  in  it  soon  after  it  was  built. 
In  1855,  Rev.  Mr.  Allspaugli,  of  the  51.  E.  Church,  held 
religious  services  in  the  grove  near  John  Jtelk  s house. 
The  settlers  came  in  ox  wagons  and  but  three  women 
were  present  in  the  congregation.  These  were  without 
question  the  first  religious  services  ever  held  by  white  men 
in  the  county. 

In  the  fall  of  1856,  a company  of  U.  S.  troops  were  sent 
into  the  northwestern  part  of  (lie  county  for  the  pretended 
purpose  of  protecting  the  settlers  at  the  elections.  As 
there  was  not  the  slightest  reason  to  anticipate  any 
trouble  there  and  as  serious  troubles  did  exist  in  the  bor- 
der counties,  and  free-state  men  were  not  allowed  to  vote, 
it  seems  certain  that  the  troops  were  designedly  sent  here 
where  they  could  not  possibly  be  of  any  service,  to  be  out 
of  the  way  of  the  obliging  Missourians  who  proposed  to  do 
the  voting  for  Kansas.  A few  miles  in  advance  of  the 
troop:,  was  John  Brown,  his  two  sons,  Redpath  and  one  or 
two  others  on  their  way  east  by  Nebraska-City  and  Iowa. 
During  the  day  a suspicious  looking  stranger  joined  their 
party  and  travelled  with  them  a few  miles.  When  (hey 
crossed  Roney  Creek,  John  Drown,  who  was  suffering 
from  malarial  fever,  concluded  to  stop  with  Morgan  Wdllet, 
whom  he  well  knew  to  he  as  true  as  steel,  and  the  rest  of 
the  party  travelled  on.  After  travelling  a mile  or  two, 
the  stranger  made  some  excuse  and  lei t the  party. 
Brown's  sons  weie  at  once  suspicious  and  as  soon  as 
night  set  in  went  back  and  got  their  father  and  hurried  on 
their  journey.  About  midnight  Willett’s  house  was  sur- 
rounded by  troops  who  demanded  that  John  Drown  be 
given  up  to  them  ; but  the  bird  had  flown  and  was  then 


IIISroilY  OK 


■y, 

sate  in  Nebraska.  Ifortunatoly,  ton,  lor  some  of  Ihono 
soldiers,  for  the  gallant  old  hero  was  prepared  to  sell  his 
life  dearly,  tor  lie  had  forty  shots,  all  ready.  In  the 
western  part  of  the  county,  running  north  and  south,  was 
a road  much  travelled  by  free-state  men  and  known  to  all 
as  .Jim  Lane’s  road.  When  it  was  impossible  for  a nonh- 
ern  man  to  travel  undisturbed  through  Missouri,  hundreds 
and  thousands  came  into  the  Territory  and  left  it  over  this 
road.  Brown  knew  this  road  well  and  often  travelled  it. 
He  established  on  it  an  ‘’under  ground  railroad”  with  fre- 
quent stations,  kept  by  true  and  trusted  men,  who  loved 
liberty  better  than  life  and  who  sympathized  most  heartily 
with  the  poor  slaves.  The  line  extended  from  Lawrence 
and  Topeka  to  Nebraska  City,  and  thence  eastward.  Mr. 
Smith,  who  lived  east  of  Grenada,  kept  a station  in  this 
county.  These  stopping  places  were  from  1 i to  _0  miles 
apart,  depending,  of  course,  upon  finding  men  who  could 
be  trusted.  Geo.  Graham,  afterwards  senator  from  this 
district  and  State  Treasurer,  was  agent  at  Albany  and  did 
noble  service  in  the  good  cause.  Li  18  A*  they  became 
suspicious  of  some  agents  in  Nebraska,  and  to  guard 
against  possible  failure,  sent  guides  from  Albany 
through  to  Iowa.  W.  1>.  Slosson,  now  a,  resident  of  Sa- 
betha,  and  John  L.  Graham,  a gallant  soldier  who  after- 
wards fell  while  leading  his  company  at  the  battle  of 
Chicamauga,  made  several  trips  in  charge  of  these  fugi- 
tives. Hundreds  of  poor  fugitives  passed  over  this  line 
were  kindly  fed  and  cared  for  until  they  had  safely  passed 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  slaveholder's  lash,  in  18. A)  John 
Brown  conducted  his  last  train  over  this  road.  He  had 
Id  slaves- — no  not  slaves  then,  thank  God — fugitives  with 
him,  and  when  south  of  Holton  and  between  that  place 
and  Topeka,  he  was  surrounded  by  a band  of  border 
ruffians.  Brave  old  John  Ritchie  came  up  from  Topeka 
with  d ) men,  released  him  from  his  danger  and  escorted 
him  through  to  Albany.  Several  of  his  comrades  on  that 
trip  were  with  him  afterwards  at  Harper’s  Ferry  and 
suffered  with  their  noble  leader.  In  November,  18-37, 


BROWN'  COUNTY-. 


t 


Brown  was  detained  on  Poney  Creek  by  a severe  storm 
and  for  several  days  was  kindly  cared  for  by  Jonathan 
Scott  and  family.  There  is  no  doubt  the  staunch  free- 
state  element  of  Brown  county  had  much  to  do  in  mould- 
in  the  sentiments  ol  our  State. 

Few  persons  who  have  not  experienced  the  hardships 
and  deprivations  of  a settlement  in  a new  country  can  at 
all  realize  what  they  are.  The  setrlers  of  1854  were  from 
forty  to  fifty  miles  from  any  point  where  they  could  ob- 
tain supplies.  Tiie  city  of  St.  Joseph  was  their  nearest 
trading,  point  and  to  that  city  they  went  for  their  mails 
also.  They  had  but  scanty  supplies  to  start  with  : for 
without  exception  they  were  poor — rich  men  are  seldom 
found  among  pioneers.  With  but  little  means  to  replen- 
ish their  scanty  stock  when  exhausted,  they  struggled  on 
enduring  hardships  and  privations  utterly  unknown  to  you 
now.  The  nearest  neighbor  often  miles  away  ; no  physi- 
cian within  a day’s  ride,  they  were  forced  to  care  for 
themselves  as  best  they  could.  One  little  incident  illus- 
trates most  strikingly  the  inconvenience  of  being  so 
remote  from  larger  settlements.  A gentleman  and  his 
son,  felling  trees,  one  frosty  morning  in  the  winter  of 
1855 — 56,  to  fence  their  farm,  had  the  misfortune  to 
break  their  axes.  Before  they  could  resume  their  work 
they  were  compelled  to  go  to  St.  Joseph,  fifty  miles  away, 
with  an  ox  team  to  get  new  axes.  In  1856  a trading 
point  was  built  up  at  Iowa  Point  and  for  two  or  three 
years  supplies  for  the  whole  county  were  purchased  there. 
All  old  settlers  will  remember,  very  kindly,  W.  D.  Beeler, 
and  R.  M.  and  C.  M.  Williams,  who  sold  thousands  of  dol- 
lars worth  of  goods  to  be  brought  into  this  county.  The 
spring  of  185?  opened  with  far  brighter  prospects  for  the 
new  Territory.  Peace  was,  in  a great  measure,  restored. 
The  free-state  element  had  steadily  increased,  notwith- 
standing the  determined  effort  to  establish  slavery  on  its 
soil.  The  troubles  of  the  preceding  two  years  had  adver- 
tised Kansas  all  over  the  country,  and  a large  immigra- 
tion was  the  natural  result.  At  this  time  there  were  few 


HlSTol’Y  OF 


■M 

houses  in  the  count)  that  could  by  any  stretch  ot  the 
imagination  be  called  comfortable.  Tliere  were  hardlt 
more  than  hundred  families  in  the  county,  and  these 
occupied  small  cabins  built,  almost  without  exception- 
near  the  timber  that  skirts  the  streams.  Few  of  these 
buildings  bad  more  than  one  room.  1 he  new  corners 
received  a hearty  welcome1  and  were  most  hospitably  j 
treated,  but  the  accommodations  were  but  scanty  at  the  j 

* j 

best.  Early  in  that  spring  quite  a.  colony  came  from 
Maine,  among  them  W.  (4.  Sargent,  Noah  Hanson,  George  j 

Ross,  Sumner  Shaw, Feering,  J.  G.  Leavitt,  1.  P.  j 

Winslow  and  the  writer.  On  Walnut  Creek  many  oi  the  I 
new  settlers  found  homes  with  E.  II.  Niles  while  they  j 
were  erecting  houses  for  themselves.  His  house  con-  j 
sisted  of  two  small  log  cabins  about  twelve  by  lourteen  J 
feet  standing  about  ten  feet  apart  and  connected  by  a root.  I 
Ln  one  of  these  cabins  there  was  a low  attic.  Mr.  Niles’  J 
family  consisted  of  himself,  wife  and  six  children,  and  yet  j 
for  weeks  he  had  thirteen  boarders,  making  in  all  twenty  I 
one  persons  who  found  lodging  in  tha1  small  house.  Few 
of  those  who  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  j 
Niles  will  ever  forget  the  many  little  acts  of  kindness  so  j 
acceptable  to  the  stranger  in  a strange  land.  Both  have  | 
since  crossed  the  dark  valley.  1 

Another  family,  noted  for  its  hospitality  to  those  who  I 
were  seeking  homes,  was  that  of  John  Foe,  a noble,  I 
generous  hearted  Kentuckian,  who  lived  near  the  mouth  j 
of  Mulberry  Creek.  His  house  was  built  of  logs  and  was  J 
about  sixteen  feet  square  and  contained  one  room.  Yet  J 
with  a family  of  seven,  during  all  the  spring  and  summer 
of  1857  they  provided  for  quite  a number  of  boarders.  J 
Padonia  House  was  another  famous  boarding  place.  To  j 
provide  sleeping  room  bunks  had  been  built  against  one 
side  of  the  cabin  one  above  another.  One  could  find  j 
representatives  of  all  kinds  of  society  among  the  new  j 
settlers.  Men  who  bad  occupied  leading  positions  in  I 
society  in  the  east  and  who  had  met  with  pecuniary  I 


BROWN  COUNTY. 


reverses,  sought  homes  in  the  new  territory  where  they 
could  commence  anew  surrounded  by  those  equally 
unfortunate.  Lawyers,  who  had  great  ideas  of  their 
ability  to  make  successful  farmers  and  who  in  their 
imaginations  had  counted  their  cattle  upon  a thousand 
hills,  were  often  found  among  them.  On  the  other  hand 
could  be  found  the  “ poor  white  ” of  the  south  with  hardly 
energy  enough  to  hold  the  plow.  1 1 was  a strange  mix- 
ing of  all  classes  and  kinds.  Almost  every  state  in  the 
Union  was  represented.  Some  of  these  held  views  that 
would  hardly  be  acceptable  in  their  native  states.  For 
instance,  the  most  bitter  anti-slavery  man  was  from  South 
Carolina.  The  pro-slavery  men  hunted  him  down, 
threatening  his  life  and  offering  a reward  for  his  head. 
No  language  at  his  command  was  too  bitter  for  him  to 
use.  A favorite  expression  of  his  with  which  he  usually 

closed  his  tirades  was,  “ D n them,  they’ll  sup  the 

cup  of  sorrow  with  the  spoon  of  repentance  before  they 
die  1 ” With  thousands  and  thousands  of  them  tins  was 
literally  verified  before  the  war  closed.  The  curse 
returned  and  rested  upon  their  heads  with  a vengeance. 
Our  South  Carolinian  still  lives,  as  loyal  as  ever  to  the 
cause  of  freedom  and  rejoices  most  heartily  over  the 
downfall  of  his  enemies.  Early  in  1857  religious  meetings 
were  held,  the  Methodists  having  regular  service  near 
Robinson.  They  also  organized  a church  at  the  house 
of  Wm.  Belk  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Peter  Pfeiffer. 
Rev.  Mr.  Towne,  a Baptist  clergyman  and  prominent  land 
speculator,  held  services  at  house  of  E.  H.  Niles,  that 
spring,  which  were  well  attended,  but  after  the  Iowa  Trust 
sale  the  places  that  had  known  him  knew  him  no  more. 

The  Iowa  I ndian  Trust  lands,  lying  in  Brown  comity 
and  embracing  several  thousand  acres  of  her  choicest 
lands,  were  advertised  to  be  sold  to  the  highest  bidder 
on  the  4th  of  June,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 


IlISTul! V OF 


In  many  cases  lands  brought  more  than  they  could  be 
sold  for  now.  One  ot  Ihe  most  astonishing  features  of 
this  excitement  was  the  utter  absence  of  crime,  unless 
gambling  could  be  called  a crime,  and  that  was  not  con- 
sidered so  by  these  men.  There  were  no  thefts — no  man 
was  murdered  for  his  money  and  yet  men  travelled  all 
over  the  county,  unarmed,  with  their  pockets  filled  with 
gold. 

While  this  was  going  on  on  the  Trust  lands,  sturdy  men 
who  wanted  homes  for  themselves  and  their  families  were 
quietly  taking  up  the  Government  lands  and  at  the  close  of 
the  year  nearly  all  the  choice  lands  of  the  county  had  been 
selected.  After  the  sale  -of  the  Trust  lands  on  the  4th  of 
June,  the  most  of  those  who  had  held  these  lands  left 
them,  the,  rude  shanties  were  quickly  removed 
and  that  section  of  the  county  was  owned  largely  by 
wealthy  speculators.  It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  to 
enumerate  the  settlers  of  1857.  The  immigration  of  that 
year  was  probably  the  largest  of  any  year,  though  it  was 
by  no  means  permanent.  Hundreds  left  as  soon  as  they 
had  perfected  title  to  their  lands  without  making  any  real 
improvements.  Two.  settlers  of  that  year,  however,  de- 
serve a passing  notice — Hon.  S.  A.  Kingman,  looted  a 
member  of  Supreme  Court  from  this  county  and  who  is  now 
the  honored  Chief  Justice  of  t^ie  State;  and  Hon.  W.  W. 
Guthrie,  who  was  afterwards  elected  Attorney  General  of 
the  State.  These  men  labored  earnestly  to  advance  the 
material  interests  of  the  county  and  for  them  the  people  of 
the  county  will  ever  have  a warm  place  in  their  hearts. 
That  spring  many  town  sites  were  laid  off  and  many  men 
got  immensely  rich  prospectively  selling  town  lots.  Hia- 
watha, Hamlin,  Powhattan,  Robinson,  Skeenona,  Denohu 
and  others  were  located  by  men  who  felt  confident  that 
thriving  little  villages  at  least  could  be  built  up  in  a short 
time.  At  Hamlin,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  A.  M.  Al- 
drich, a steam  saw  mill  was  erected  by  Ross  & Morrill. 
This  mill  burned  to  the  ground  on  the  -,d  of  April,  1858, 
rebuilt  2 miles  south  at  junction  Walnut  & M.ul  berry  creeks. 


U'mWN  CI)'.-\TV. 


During  that  summer  regular  religious  services  were  held 
in  the  woods  on  E.  H.  Niles  farm  and  a Sahbath  school 
was  organized  with  David  Peebles  as  Supt.  This  was 
without  doubt  the  first  Sabbath  school  in  the  county. 
A school  house  was  built  at  Robinson  and  the  following 
year  David  Guard,  a hoosier  school  master,  taught  in  it. 

On  the  4th  of  duly,  1857,  the  day  was  duly  celebrated 
for  the  first  time  in  the  county  by  a public  gathering  in 
the  woodson  the  farm  of  John  Poe  on  Mulberry  Creek. 
W.  C.  Poster  presided;  Dan  I McFarland  delivered  the 
oration  and  N.  Hanson  read  the  toasts.  W.  G.  Sargent 
and  others  made  speeches.  Some  two  or  three  hundred 
people  were  in  attendance.  The  • settlers  in  the  summer 
of  1857  felt  sorely  the  need  of  some  mail  facilities  and  on 
Walnut  Creek  they  made  a contract  with  Philip  A\  eiss  to 
make  a weekly  trip  to  Iowa  Point,  the  nearest  post  office, 
_5  miles  away,  and  bring  their  mail  matter.  A list  of 
names  was  furnished  him  and  a request  made  upon  the 
post  master  at  Iowa  Point  to  deliver  fetters  to  him.  This 
was  probably  the  first  mail  route  in  the  county  and  was 
purely  a privaic  enterprise.  For  this  service  Air.  Weiss 
received  from  the  settlers  82  for  each  trip.  He  combined 
with  it  a passenger,  freight  and  express  line,  doing  all 
with  one  pair  of  horses  and  a lumber  wagon.  At  this 
time  few  of  the  settlers  owned  horses — nearly  all  of  the 
farm  work,  and  travelling,  even,  being  done  with  oxen. 
Under  an  act  of  1855,  a mail  route  had  been  established 
from  St.  Joseph  via  Highland  to  Marysville,  Kansas,  but 
service  was  not  put  on  this  route  until  1858.  August  8, 
18o7,  Hie  iiiv.t  post  office  was  established  in  the  comity  and 
George  E.  Clayton  was  appointed  postmaster.  A list  of 
all  the  post  offices  that  have  ever  been  established  in  Hie 
county,  with  date  and  name  of  postmaster  is  herewith 


Glaytonville,  Aug.  8,  1857, 
Mount  Roy,  Sept.  2,  1857, 
Padonia,  October  20,  1857. 
Hamlin,  December  5,  1857, 


( feorge  Er Clayton . 
Shelton  Duff. 
Orville  Root. 
Edward  II.  Niles. 


HIST.  II' V i >!•' 


Carson,  December  9,  1857, 
Poney  Creek,  June  21,  1858, 
[Discontinued  September  19,  1861.] 
Robinson,  June  80,  1858, 
Hiawatha,  July  18,  1858, 
Tyler’s,  March  28,  1864, 
Ununda  “ “ “ 

[Discontinued  March  20',  1871.] 
Fairvicw,  March  23,  1869, 
Buncomb,  May  2, 1876, 

[Name  changed  to  St.  Francis 
tinued  Nov.  11,  1872.] 

Grand  Prairie,  July  27.  187b, 
Marak,  August  8,  1879. 

Morrill,  December  14,  1879, 
Mannville,  January  9,  1871, 
Discord,  June  22,  1874, 

During  the  summer  of  1857 
Hiawatha.  It  was  a frame 
ground  now  occupied  by  the  i 
the  house  was  Seth  Barnum 
several  months.  A.  J.  Selleii 


Nov.  22 


Marcellos  E . Sawin. 
Morgan  Willett. 

Sam  i W.  \V  ade. 
Hartwin  II.  Dutton. 
John  S.  Tyler. 
Giles  Chipman. 

Orlando  Fountain. 
Wm.  B.  Dickinson. 
)')  187  1 , and  discon- 


Josiah  C.  Thomas. 
Fran/,  Marak. 
Sol.  R.  Myers. 
Thomas  Mann. 

Benj.  M.  Hale, 
the  first  house  was  built  in 
building  and  stood  on  the 
lank.  The  firnt  occupant  of 
who  kept  a hotel  in  it  for 
then  occupied  it  for  hotel 


purposes  until  the  present  Hiawatha  House  was  completed 
in  1859.  The  first  term  of  the  district  court  was  held  in 
the  old  hotel  building  in  1858,  Judge  Petit,  now  one  of 
the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  of  Indiana,  being  the 
presiding  Judge.  The  clerk  had  lost  some  of  the  papers, 
and  the  Judge,  thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  court  house, 
refused  to  try  any  cases  and  adjourned  the  court  until 
the  next  term.  The  building  has  long  since  been  torn 
down.  The  second  building  in  Hiawatha  is  the  one  now 
occupied  by  E.  W.  Butt  Esq.,  as  a residence.  It  stood 
upon  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the  post  office  building  and 
was  used  for  a store  by  H.  R.  Dutton  and  B.  L.  Rider. 
They  sold  out  in  1858  to  W.  13.  Barnett,  the  stock  of 
goods  invoicing  about  #75.  This  was  not  the  first  store 
in  the  county,  however,  as  M.  L.  Sawin 

opened  a small  store  early  in  1857  where 


151  {.OWN  COUNTY. 


31 


the  Carson  school  house  now  stands:  The  third  building  in 
the  town  was  the  one  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  E.  J.  Chance. 
This  was  for  some  time  used  for  Probate  Judge’s  office 
and  in  it  lie  held  Probate  court.  The  next  season  quite  a 
number  of  buildings  were  erected.  In  August,  1857,  the 
free-state  men  held  a convention  at  Drummond’s  grove 
on  farm  now  owned  by  Col.  Biever  to  discuss  political 
topics  and  to  decide  what  course  to  pursue  in  the  coming 
elections.  The  free-state  men  of  the  territory,  repudiating 
the  bogus  pro-slavery  legislatures,  elected  by  the  people  of 
Missouri  had  organized  a government  for  themselves 
under  the  ‘-Topeka  Constitution”  and  had  steadily  refused 
to  take  part  in  any  territorial  election.  At  this  conven- 
tion. however,  the  free-state  men  of  Browne  county  decid- 
ed to  elect  officers  under  the  Topeka  Constitution  in  order 
to  be  in  accord  with  their  party  throughout  the  State 
and  a‘  the  same  time  they  claimed  it  to  be  the  right  of 
every  free-state  man  to  vote  at  the  territorial,  elections  in 
order  to  wrest  the  reins  of  government  from  the  minority 
party  who  had  so  outraged  all  sense  of  justice  by  their 
conduct.  The  result  was  that  Ira  H.  Smith  and  IV.  AY. 
Guthrie  were  elected  under  the  Topeka  Constitution  and 
at  the  ensuing  territorial  election  the  free-state  men  en- 
gaged heartily  in  the  canvass  with  the  result  before  stated. 

In  September  the  free-state  men  held  a convention  to 
nominate  candidates  for  the  offices  to  be  tilled  at  the  terri- 
torial election.  Though  Claytonville  was  at  that  time  the 
oounry  seat,  the  convention  was  called  to  meet  at  Hiawa- 
tha. There  were  but  two  buildings  on  the  town  site  and 
no  others  within  miles  of  the  place.  Neither  of  these 
buildings  were  large  enough  to  hold  the  convention,  so 
they  held  their  session  on  the  open  prairie  near  where  the 
Dispatch  office  now  stands,  using  a lumber  wagon  for  a 
pea  vers’  stand.  Hon.  AY.  G.  Sargent  was  nominated  for 
of  Probate  Judge,  which  was  the  most  important  office  to  be 
illed.  Jacob  Englehart  and  A.  B.  Anderson  for  commis- 
loners.  E.  0.  Sawin  for  Sheriff  and  Moses  P.  Proctor  for 
reasurer.  As  has  been  before  stated,  all  were  elected. 


M)( 

tk 
as, 
iiise,  i 
until 
.turn 

' ii""'  ■ 
$tO« 
if  au<l 
Rider.  | 
'Oct 
t store 

M«inl 

fkrl 


IIISToUY  UK 


In  the  early  summer  of  this  year,  a party  on  Walnut 
Creek  was  tried  for  theft,  and  as  this  was  the  first  trial  for 
a crime  of  this  character,  it  deserves  a passing  notice. 
Two  young  men,  Smith  and  Elder,  from  Maine  were  carry- 
ing on  the  farm  owned  by  Noah  Hanson.  While  they 
were  in  the  field  one  day  a pistol  and  a watch  were  stolen 
from  the  cabin.  A worthless  lellow  named  Turpin  was 
suspected,  and  on  being  arrested,  the  stolen  property  was 
found  on  his  person.  He  was  taken  before  Esq.  Foster  for 
trial ; but  no  copy  of  the  statutes  could  be  found  and  Mr. 
Foster  very  sensibly  decided  that  he  could  not  try  the 
prisoner  without  “law,”  and  the  trial  was  consequently 
postponed.  The  settlers  were  not  satisfied  with  this  tardy 
administration  of  justice,  so  a court  was  speedily  organ- 
ized at  Sawin’s  store  and  W.  W.  Guthrie  was  chosen 
Judge.  The  fellow  was  tried,  convicted  and  sentenced  to 
pay  a fine  of  five  dollars  and  costs  and  it  was  ordered  that 
he  stand  committed  until  the  fine  was  paid.  But  there 
was  no  place  in  which  to  confine  him  and  it  was  accord- 
ingly arranged  that  he  be  allowed  to  work  out  fhe  fine  and 
costs  at  75  cents  per  day  ; and  he  was  turned  over  to  Mr. 
Smith,  to  whom  the  property  belonged.  Smith  put  him 
at  work  hoeing  corn  ; but  during  the  second  day  a good 
opportunity  offering  he  ran  away  and  the  fine  still  remains 
unpaid. 

The  assscssment.  roll  of  1857,  as  returned  by  Joseph 
Brown,  assessor,  is  quite  a curiosity  and  shows  that  on 
the  1st  of  March  of  that  year  there  was  the  following 


property  in  the  county  : 

4 Slaves  valued  at  $ 1,400 

185  Horses  <fc  mules  valued  at  10,908 

084  Cattle  “ “ 15,855 

1 Pleasure  Carriage  “ “ 15 

54  Time  Pieces  “ “ 390 


Money 

Bonds  & Notes 
The  total  taxable 
description  that 


3,500 

2,415 


property  ot  every 
year  amounted  to 


BROWS*  COI  N I V. 


every 
4 to 


$88,078,  while  the  whole  number  of  tax  payers  was  130. 
At  the  election  held  on  the  6th  of  October,  1857,  and  in 
which  the  free-state  men  participated,  three  commissioners 
were  to  be  chosen  to  locate  a permanent  county  seat.  1. 
P.  Winslow,  Isaac  Chase  and  1.  B.  Hoover  were  elected. 
Among  the  many  town  sites  that  had  been  located  during 
the  summer  there  were  many  contestants  for  the  honor. 
These  commissioners  met  on  the  14th  of  December,  organ- 
ized their  board  and  took  one  ballot — the  result  showing 
one  vote  each  for  Hiawatha,  Carson  and  Padonia.  The 
next  day  the  board  visited  the  town  sites  of  Carson,  Ham- 
lin, Padonia  and  Hiawatha  and  examined  the  proposals 
made  by  the  different  companies  to  donate  property  or 
money  to  the  county  in  consideration  of  receiving  the 
county  seat.  Padonia  offered  to  donate  a square  of 
ground  and  a three  thousand  dollars  court  house  ; Hiawa- 
tha offered  a building  20  by  80  feet  for  a court  house  and 
every  alternate  lot  on  the  town  site.  Carson  offered  one- 
lalf  of  the  lots  and  fifteen  hundred  dollars  in  building  ma- 
terial ami  labor.  A second  ballot  was  then  taken  and  re- 
sulted as  bef'oye.  A third  ballot  showed  two  votes  for 
Carson  and  one  for  Padonia.  A fourth  ballot  was  unani- 
mous for  Carson  and  the  county  seat  was  accordingly  re- 
moved from  Claytonville  to  Carson.  But  it  was  not  to  re- 
main there  long.  At  the  session  of  the  legislature  the  fol- 
lowing January  an  act  was  passed  authorizing  an  election 
o be  held  April  5 submitting  to  a vote  of  the  people  the 
[uestion  of  the  location  of  the  county  seat.  An  election 
vas  accordingly  held  and  upon  the  canvass  of  the  vote  by 
he  commissioners  the  returns  from  four  precincts  were 
Brown  out  on  account  of  irregularity.  The  vote  as  can- 
assed  showed  that  Hiawatha  had  128  votes,  Carson  37, 
lamlin  25,  Claytonville  20,  Washington  13,  Prairie 
prings  4 and  Padonia  2 ; and  Hiawatha  was  declared  the 
jermanent  seat  of  justice  of  the  county  and  no  change  has 
|ince  been  made. 

On  the  16th  day  of  November,  1857,  the  new 
nnmissioners  elected  by  the  free-state  men,  met. 


HISToUY  OP- 


34 


Their  first  act  was  to  appoint  Ira  H.  Smith  county  survey- 
or. This  was  doubtless  done  so  promptly  as  a mark  of 
appreciation  of  his  course  in  refusing  to  accept  any  favor 
or  position  at  the  hands  of  the  pro-slavery  board.  David 
Peebles  was  then  appointed  county  clerk  in  place  of  Wa- 
terson  and  John  S.  Tyler  assessor  in  place  of  Brown.  On 
the  21st  of  December,  the  court  met  again  and  for  the  last 
time  at  Claytonville,  adjourning  to  Carson  to  hold  their 
next  session  on  the  28th  of  the  same  month.  At  this  ses- 
sion Moses  P.  Proctor,  the  Treasurer,  tendered  his  resig- 
nation and  Sam’l  W.  Wade  was  appointed  to  fill  the 
vacancy  ; and  Henry  Rymal  was  appointed  coroner.  On 
the  21st  of  Dec.,  1857,  an  election  was  held  under  the  Lc- 
compton  constitution  for  State  officers  and  members  of 
the  legislature.  No  provision  was  made  for  a vote  square- 
ly, against  the  Lecompton  constitution.  All  votes  had  to 
he  “For  the  Constitution,  with  Slavery,”  or  “For  the  Con- 
stitution, without  Slavery.”  The  free-state  men,  general 
ly,  very  properly  refused  to  vote  either  way  upon  that 
question ; but  upon  the  question  of  officers  under  tha 
constitution,  they  wisely  concluded  that  it  would  do  then 
far  less  harm  in  the  hands  ot  their  friends  than  in  those  o 
their  enemies.  Brown  and  Nemaha  still  constituted  on 
Representative  District  and  E.  N.  Morrill  was  electe 
member  of  the  Lower  House.  On  the  4th  of  Januarj 
1858,  under  the  authority  of  an  act  of  the  free-state  legist; 
hire,  passed  at  their  session  in  December,  1857,  an  ele 
tion  was  held  allowing  a square  vote  for  or  against  tl 
Lecompton  constitution.  In  our  county  187  votes  we 
cast  against  it — the  pro-slavery  men  refusing  to  vote 
all  at  this  election.  On  the  11th  of  January,  1858,  t' 
county  commissioners  court  rose  to  the  dignity  of  sitti: 
in  chairs  (they  had  previously  used  boxes  and  benche 
and  ordered  the  sheriff  to  procure  four  arm  chairs  a 
eight  common  ones.  This  was  in  those  days  consider 
“putting  on  style.”  But  little  business  was  transacted 
these  sessions  except  to  locate  roads  and  allow  accouj 
against  the  county.  At  the  March  term  of  the  coi 


I lie 
toils 


Nil 
torn] 
h (In 
k lie! 

to  Ik 


BHOWN  COUNTY. 


•DO 


the  Sheriff,  Fulton,  made  his  final  settlement  as  collector 
of  the  county.  It  is  herewith  given  in  full: 

Browne  County. 

Ln  Acer,  with  James  A.  Fulton. 

Collector  of  Revenue. 

Cr.  By  tax  hook  of  1857.  -§848.22 

I)r.  By  Delinquent  list  as  attached,  §285.27 

“ Percentage  for  collecting  revenue,  2.95 

“ Warrant  paid  to  County  Treas.  39.01 

••  On  hand  due  Territory  including  per  cent.  20.99 

• §348.22 

Then  follows  a list  of  delinquents,  embracing  many  of 
tiii»  prominent  men  "l  ro-4®v.  flic  lr.-c  state  men  would 
pay  nu  taxes  To  pro-sia\ery  authorities,  and  the  pro-slavery 
men  wisely  concluded  that  they  would  not  pay  all  the  tax, 
so  nobody  paid.  The  heaviest  tax  payer  that  year  was 
Henry  Smith  who  owned  three  slaves  upon  which  he  was 
assessed.  His  tax  was  §1 0.95. 

On  the  l-th  of  April.  1858,  the  board  held  its  last 
session  at  Cars  m,  and  on  the  19th  (a  noted  day  in  the 
history  of  the  Failed  States,)  i's  first  session  in  Hiawatha 
was  held.  On  the  Y4th  of  May  the  Commissioners  ap- 
propriated §2, out)  to  build  a court  house  with  jail  and 
offices  attached,  and  Joseph  Klinefelter  was  appointed 
special  commissioner  to  let  Ihe  contract  and  superintend 
the  building  of  same.  The  Legislature,  at  their  session  in 
1858,  passed  an  act  providing  that  three  supervisors  should 
be  elected  in  each  municipal  township,  one  of  whom 
should  be  designated  on  the  ballot  as  chairman,  and 
the  chairmen  of  the  several  township  boards  should 
constitute  the  county  tribunal.  Flection  to  be  held 
on  the  fourth  Monday  of  March.  As  this  act  did  not 
go  into  effect  in  time  for  an  election  that  spring,  the  old 
board  of  commissioners  held  over,  but  at  their  session 
o i the  gist  of  June  the  board  ordered  an  election  to 
be  held  on  the  2Lnd  of  July  in  the  several  townships 
lor  the  purpose  of  organizing  under  the  new  law. 


HiSTOia  UK 


3(3 

At  this  election  Samuel  A.  Kingman  was  elected 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  for  Irving  town- 
ship, Roger  P.  Smith  for  Walnut  Creek  and  James  Round 
for  Claytonville.  The  records  do  not  show  that  any 
one  was  elected  in  Loclmane  township,  nor  docs  it 
appear  that  that  township  had  any  representation  on 
that  board. 

The  old  board  held  a session  on  the  17th  day  of  July. 
11.  R.  Dutton  was  appointed  Commissioner  of  Public 
Buildings  to  fill  vacancy  occasioned  by  death  of  Joseph 
Klinefelter.  On  the  16th  of  August  Ihe  board  again 
met,  but  the  clerk  refused  to  meet  with  them  or 
recognize  them  as  a legal  body.  He  was  accordingly 
deposed  and  C.  T.  Whittenhall  was  appointed  County 
Clerk.  The  records  fail  to  show  why  the  clerk  refused  to 
act,  nor  docs  it  appear  that  the  board  transacted  any 
further  business  or  ever  met  again. 

The  new  board  of  .supervisors  met  for  Ihe  first 
time  on  the  16th  of  October,  1808,  and  organized  by 
electing  R.  P.  Smith  chairman  and  Wm.  B.  Barnett 
county  clerk.  This  board  was  evidently  composed  of 
clear  headed  business  men,  for  one  of  their  first  acts  was 
to  order  the  clerk  “ to  report  to  the  court  the  amount 
of  the  appropriations  heretofore  made  by  the  county 
board,  the  amount  of  warrants  drawn,  the  amount  paid 
on  said  warrants,  and  the  amount  of  indebtedness  of  the 
county.  ” 

This  report,  made  at  the  next  session,  showed  that 
warrants  had  been  issued  amounting  to  $^lb6.65.  That 
appropriations  had  been  made  for  which  no  warrants  had 
been  issued  to  the  amount  of  That  all  the 

warrants  paid  amounted  to  but  £649.58,  with  nothing 
in  the  treasury.  It  was  also  found  that  warrants  amount- 
ing to  $74.9-1  had  been  issued  and  had  not  been  entered  on 
the  record.  This  showed  an  indebtedness  of  $46_1 .9-7. 
II.  R.  Dutton,  building  commissioner,  reported  that  he 
had  contracted  with  8.  W.  Wade  to  build  a court  house, 
and  that  same  was  to  be  completed  on  or  before  Aug.  1st 


TiKOWX  COUNTY. 


1859.  At  the  election  for  members  of  the  legislature,  in 
Oct.  1858,  Geo.  Graham,  of  Seneca,  was  chosen  to 
represent  Brown  and  Nemaha  counties  in  the  territorial 
legislature.  On  the  doth  of  November  E.  A.  Spooner  was 
appointed  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  but  he 
declined  the  office  and  James  A.  Stanley  was  subsequently 
appointed.  Ln  the  fall  of  this  year  (18.58)  a grand  jury 
was  empannell^d  for  the  first  time  in  the  new  county. 

The  year  1858  will  be  remembered  by  the  early  settlers 
as  a very  wet  one.  The  months  of  April  and  July  were 
especially  noted  for  the  heavy  rainfalls  ; the  streams 
overflowed  their  banks  rendering  it  impossible  to  cross 
them  for  days  in  succession.  John  Ayres  built  a steam 
saw  mill  at  Robinson  during  that  season,  and  afterwads 
attached  a small  run  of  burrs.  There  was  but  little' 
immigration  that  year.  Many  who  had  acquired  title  to 
their  lands  left  ; those  who  remained  had  raised  but  little 
grain  the  year  before,  few  having  farms  opened,  as  all 
had  generally  used  up  the  little  store  they  brought  with 
them,  they  felt  most  forcibly  the  effects  of  hard  times. 
The  harvest  of  185b  proved  a good  one,  though  the  wheat 
was  much  injured  by  the  rains ; but  there  was  little 
market  for  anything  the  farmers  had  raised,  and  while 
breadstuff's  were  abundant  they  had  no  ready  money.  To 
add  to  the  distress,  President  Buchanan,  unheeding  the 
earnest  appeals  for  postponement,  had  ordered  a sale  of 
the  public  lands  in  this  land  district,  thus  compelling 
preemptors  to  pay  for  their  lands  or  run  the  risk  of  having 
their  homes  sold  to  merciless  speculators.  Many  of  the 
early  settlers  bought  land  warrants  worth,  then,  $140,  by 
giving  mortgages  on  their  homes  for  $d50,  payable  in 
one  year,  worth  twelve  per  cent,  interest,  while  others 
hired  money  at  sixty  per  cent,  to  pay  for  their  lands. 
While  the  winters  of  1855-56  and  1856-57  had  been  very 
severe,  of  one  the  mercury  falling  to  below  zero,  the 
winters  of  1857— 58  and  1858-59  were  noted  as  very  mild 
ones.  In  winter  of  1856-57  the  severe  cold  weather  drove 
the  deer  in  large  numbers  to  the  timber  for  shelter  where 


iusTuin  of 


they  were  easily  killed.  It  is  said  that  David  Deckles 
killed  seventeen  during  that  season.  At  the  election 
of  township  officers  in  March,  1859,  John  Bclk  was 
chosen  chairman  of  the  hoard  of  supervisors  for  Irving 
township,  James  Rounds  for  Claytonvillc,  1.  B.  Hoover  for 
Walnut  Creek  and  TTrias  Hillman  for  Lochnane.  These 
gentlemen  constituted  the  county  tribunal,  and  met  for  the 
first  time  on  the  30th  of  May  and  organized  by  electing 
James  Rounds  chairman  and  Henry  Graves  clerk. 

Ln  June  an  election  was  held  for  members  of  the  Wyan- 
dotte constitutional  convention,  and  Samuel  A.  Kingman 
received  93  votes  and  Samuel  Shields  19.  The  conven- 
tion met  on  the  5th  of  July  and  organized  by  electing 
Samuel  A.  Kingman  temporary  president.  On  the  4th  ol 
October  the  constitution  framed  at  Wyandotte  was  sub' 
mitted  to  a vote  of  the  people,  the  vote  in  Brown  county 
being  269  for  to  103  against.  On  the  Homestead  clause, 
which  was  submitted  separately,  the  vote  was  173  for  to 
163  against.  On  the  6th  of  Dec.  the  election  for  officers 
under  Wyandotte  constitution  was  held  and  Samuel  A. 
Kingman,  of  Brown  county,  was  elected  Associate  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Brown  and  Atchison  counties  composed  the  Second 
Senatorial  District,  and  elected  John  A.  Martin  and 
H.  R.  Dutton  Senators  by  a vote  of  925  to  574  lor  Sam  1 
W.  Wade  and  G.  O.  Chase.  Era  H,  Smith  represented 
Brown  county  in  the  lower  house.  H.  R.  Dutton  at  the 
territorial  election,  held  Nov.  8th,  had  been  elected  to  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  Territorial  legislature. 

The  autumn  of  1859  found  the  settlers  with  an 
abundance  of  grain  though  there  was  little  demand  for  it, 
and  money  was  extremely  difficult  for  them  to  get.  While 
they  had  an  abundance  of  those  things  that  they  could 
produce  from  the  soil  by  their  sturdy  labor,  it  required  the 
closest  economy  to  provide  the  numberless  little  neces- 
saries, without  which  a family  can  hardly  be  said  to  be 
comfortable  these  days.  Those  who  had  hired  money  the 
year  before,  at  ruinous  rates  to  save  their  homes,  found 


BROWN  COUNTY. 


pay-day  near  at  hand  without  the  means  to  meet  the 
claims  against  them.  In  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1856 
the  Pike's  Peak  excitement  was  at  its  hight,  and  hundreds 
of  teams  passed  through  the  county  on  their  way  to  the 
gold  fields.  This  made  some  demand  for  corn,  butter, 
eggs,  milk,  <fcc.,  and  those  farmers  who  happened  to  he 
living  on  the  line  of  the  road  were  very  much  benefitted 
by  it.  As  an  illustration  of  the  scarcity  of  money  among 
the  settlers  at  this  time,  the  following  incihent  is  related  : 
A national  Republican  convention  was  to  be  held  in  the 
summer  of  1860  to  nominate  candidates  for  President  and 
Vice-President.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Seward,  in  the  terri- 
tory, recognizing  his  able  services  in  behalf  of  freedom, 
determined  that  a delegation  should  be  sent  that  would 
support  him.  A.  C.  Wilder,  the  chairman  of  the  Central 
Committee  and  a warm  supporter  of  Mr.  Seward,  wrote  a 
letter  to  a friend  in  Brown  county,  urging  that  a delegate 
be  sent  to  the  Territorial  convention.  A County  conven- 
tion was  hehl,  but  no  one  could  be  found  able  and  willing 
to  go.  Those  who  could  spare  the  time  had  no  horses ; 
those  who  had  horses  had  no  money  to  pay  expenses. 
After  fully  discussing  the  matter,  it  was  gravely  proposed 
that  a contribution  be  taken  up  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
the  delegate.  This  was  actually  done,  some  giving  twentv 
live  cents,  some  a dime,  others  less,  until  four  dollars  and 
fifty  cents  in  legal  tender  was  raised.  It  was  calculated 
that  by  close  economy  this  amount  would  defray  the  ex- 
penses absolutely  necessary.  Armed  with  the  necessary 
credentials  and  a letter  to  Mr.  Wilder  commending  the 
gentleman  from  Brown  county  to  his  hospitality,  the  dele- 
gate attended  the  convention.  It  was  reported  at  the  time 
that  the  closing  paragraph  of  the  letter  informed  Mr. 
Wilder  that  t-  Dr.  takes  Ins  whisky  straight."  It  is  need 
less  to  add  that  the  delegate  has  since  been  twice  honored 
by  an  election  as  County  Treasurer,  and  that  the  author  of 
the  letter  has  since  filled  most  creditably  a state  office. 

In  the  spring  of  1860  there  was  quite  a demand  for 
corn  to  transport  to  the  new  gold  mines,  and  several  trains 


I" 


HISToi:  V OF 


of  teams  wers  loaded  in  the  county.  Nearly  all  who  had 
corn  sold  the  last  bushel  that  they  felt  they  could  possibly 
spare,  the  need  for  money  was  so  great,  trusting  to  the 
genial  clime  and  fertile  soil  to  provide  them  an  abundant 
harvest.  The  price  of  corn  at  that  time,  May  and  June, 
ISliO,  was  2b  cents  per  bushel.  The  winter  of  186tl-t>U 
had  been  remarkably  dry  and  not  very  cold.  March  and 
April  were  windy  and  without  rainfall.  Still  trusting  in 
linn  who  has  promised  seed  time  and  harvest,  the  people 
sowed  and  planted  a larger  amount  than  ever  before.  May 
and  June  passed  away  with  scarcely  a shower.  There  was 
no  harvest  of  small  grain  for  it  had  utterly  failed  to  ma- 
ture, and  there  were  very  few  fields  that  were  cut  at  all, 
while  there  was  not  one  that  would  pay  for  the  expense  ot 
harvesting.  The  crop  of  small  grain  was  estimated  to  aver- 
age two  bushel's  per  acre  ; but  those  fields  that  were  not 
harvested  were  not  included  in  this  estimate.  iJaU  they 
been  the  real  average  would  not  have  been  hail  a bushel  to 
(he  acre.  Still  the  farmers  worked  away  hoping  and  pray- 
ing that  rain  would  come  in  time  to  save  their  corn,  but 
they  were  doomed  to  bitter  disappointment.  July  and 
August  were  absolutely  without  rain,  and  not  till  the  cool 
weather  of  fall  did  the  long  desired  showers  come — too 
late  for  the  crops  of  that  year.  It  was  literally  a year 
without  rain  and  an  absolute  and  complete  failure  ol  crops 
of  all  kinds.  Words  are  inadequate  to  describe  the  bitter 
disppoiutment  of  those  noble  men  and  women  who  had 
struggled  through  the  weary  years  to  make  homes  for 
themselves  and  dear  ones,  when  they  found  winter  ap- 
proaching and  nothing  in  store  for  the  long  and  bitter 
months.  Starvation  stared  them  in  the  face.  Surely,  it 
was  no  fault  of  theirs.  They  had  toiled  unceasingly.  They 
had  ploughed  and  planted.  Most  faithfully  had  they 
watched  their  young  crops,  but  God  had  not  watered  them, 
and  all  their  labor  came  to  naught.  The  winter  of  18(j  j-bl 
will  never  lie  forgotten  by  those  who  spent  it  in  Kansas. 
J>ut  few  families  in  the  county  lived  comfortably  while  the 
most  had  barely  the  necesssaries  of  life,  and  those  they 


BK0WX  COUNTY. 


41 


had  to  obtain  from  day  to  day  as  best  they  could.  Fortu- 
nately, warm  hearts  and  willing  hands  were  busy  in  the 
more  favored  states  gathering  for  those  in  need,  and  many 
were  thus  saved  from  starvation.  The  most  striking  fea- 
ture of  that  winter  was  the  hearty  good  feeling  that  ex- 
isted between  the  settlers.  To  live  through  the  win  ter 'and 
until  another  harvest  time  was  the  most  that  any  hoped  to 
accomplish,  and  the  feeling  of  dependence  that  rested  upon 
all,  filled  them  with  a hearty  sympathy  for  their  less  fortu- 
nate neighbors  rarely  manifested  in  more  favored  seasons. 
All  were  ready  to  divide  their  own  scanty  store  with  those 
who  had  none  ; and  with  all  the  privations  and  hardships 
there  was  a hearty,  cheerful,  hopeful,  manly  feeling  that 
spoive  volumes  in  praise  of  the  pioneers.  Man}r  passed  the 
whole  winter  without  having  groceries  of  any  Kind  in  their 
houses.  Few  had  a full  supply  of  meat,  and  potatoes  were 
almost  unknown,  and  many  ianulies  had  little  else  but  corn 
meal  or  Hour.  Many  were  without  sufficient  clothing  to 
protect  them  from  the  bitter  winds  of  winter,  and  coarse 
sae  .s  and  old  cloth  were  made  to  take  the  plaee  of 
b lots  and  shoes.  Hut  these  trials  were  not  without  their 
compensation.  Men  and  women  who  bore  them  patiently 
were  made  stronger  and  better  by  the  sufferings  they  en- 
dured. and  the  Kansas  of  to  day  is  stronger,  purer  and 
nobler  for  having  suffered  in  its  early  settlement.  Too 
much  praise  cannot  lie  given  to  the  generous  hearts  in  the 
East  who  contributed  so  liberally  to  the  needy.  Without 
their  aid  thousands  would  have  been  compelled  to  aban- 
don their  homes,  and  hundreds  would  have  starved. 

Among  the  many  incidents  in  the  early  history  of  the 
county,  one,  occurring  in  the  fall  of  lHtio,  deserves  special 
mention.  Lt  was  called  " stealing  a giist  mill,  ’ and  cre- 
ated no  little  comment  at  the  time.  Mo  tiill  statement  or 
explanation  of  the  circumstances  has  ever  before  been  pub- 
lished. In  the  early  part  of  186 j,  A.  M.  Hamby,  who  was 
running  a saw  mill  at  Falls  City,  induced  W.  C.  Foster, 
Esq.,  of  this  county,  to  enter  into  partnership  with  him. 
Mr.  Foster  had  a portable  grist  mill  consisting  of  a run  of 


HISTORY  OF 


43 

. burrs,  the  frame  supporting  them  and  the  necesssary  shaft- 
ing and  cog-wheels  to  run  it,  which,  lie  removed^  to  Falls 
City  and  attached  to  Hamby’s  saw-mill.  Before  th copart- 
nership was  fully  consummated  and  the  papers  signed,  Mr. 
Foster,  becoming  convinced  that  Mr.  Hamby’s  representa- 
tions were  false  and  that  he  was  very  much  involved,  de- 
clined to  carry  out  the  arrangement.  When  he  attempted 
to  remove  his  grist  mill  Hamby  refused  to  allow  him  to 
take  it.  To  engage  in  litigation  in  another  stale  in  the  un- 
settled condition  of  affairs,  and  with  the  strong  feeling  in 
the  community  in  favor  of  retaining  the  mill,  seemed  use- 
less. To  abandon  altogether  the  idea  of  recovering  his 
property  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  After  consulting  with 
iiis  attorney,  he  arranged  with  seven  of  his  friends  to  go 
with  him  and  quietly  remove  the  property.  The  party 
gathered  at  his  house  one  pleasant  autumn  evening  with 
two  heavy  lumber  wagons  and  four  good  horses,  and  when 
the  shades  of  evening  gathered  around  they  started  for 
Falls  City.  At  a little  alter  eleven,  reaching  the  wide 
bottom  lying  south  of  that  place,  they  left  their  teams  in 
the  tall  grass  in  charge  of  one  of  their  number,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  make  an  examination  of  the  premises.  1 n a 
house  near  by  a light  was  burning.  Silently  they  moved 
around  among  the  logs  in  the  mill-yard  carefully  looking 
over  the  situation  to  decide  how  to  act.  The  frame  of  the 
mill  was  bolted  firmly  to  the  sills  of  the  building.  A 
heavy  wrench  had  been  brought  along,  and  as  the  nut  turn- 
ed on  the  rusty  bolt  the  creaking  iron  sounded  like  filing 
a saw  and  caused  all  to  start  with  the  fear  that  they  would 
be  discovered.  Industriously  they  worked  and  in  a few 
minutes  it  was  carefully  lifted  from  its  resting  place  and 
laid  upon  the  saw-dust.  A span  of  lmises  were  soon 
brought  up,  and -hitching  to  the  mill,  it  was  dragged  over 
the  soft  ground  a quarter  of  a mile  or  more  to  where  the 
wagons  had  been  left.  In  a few  minutes  it  was  carefully 
taken  apart  and  placed  in  the  wagons,  and  the  party  were 
as  anxious  to  get  out  of  Nebraska  as  they  were  a few  hours 
before  to  get  in.  Quietly  they  pursued  their  journey  until 
just  as  the  day  was  dawning,  they  came  in  sight  of  the 
t imber  near  Mr.  Foster’s  home.  Then  the  five  good  singers 
who  were  in  1 lie  party  struck  up  with  one  accord,  “ Home, 
Sweet  Home,”  and  never  was  it  sung  with  a more  hearty 
good  will.  A few  days  after,  the  grist  mill  was  attached 


BROWN  COUNTY. 


43 


to  E.  N.  Morrill, s saw-mill  where  it  did  good  service  for 
several  years.  No  attempt  was  ever  made  to  return  it  to 
Falls  City,  all  parties,  it  is  presumed,  feeling  that  under  the 
circumstances,  the  stealing  of  the  grist  mill  was  perfectly 
justifiable.  The  spring  of  18t>l  was  a very  favorable  one,  and 
all  went  to  work  with  a hearty  good  will  to  put  in  the  seed 
again.  Thousands  of  . bushels  of  choice  wheat  and  corn 
had  been  donated  by  the  more  favored  farmers  of  other 
states,  and  thus  all  were  enabled  to  secure  the  needed 
seed.  Early  in  the  year,  however,  the  war  clouds  began 
to  gather  and  all  were  watching  anxiously  the  course  of 
events.  Largely  dependent  on  Missouri  for  supplies  as  the 
people  of  Kansas  at  that  time  were,  uncertain  how  the  peo- 
ple of  that  state  would  act  in  the  approaching  trouble,  the 
settlers  looked  anxiously  forward  to  the  harvest  that  would 
to  some  extent  render  them  independent  of  their  unfriend- 
ly neighbors.  The  harvest  richly  rewarded  them  for  their 
labor,  and  a more  hopeful  feeling  pervaded  the  whole  com- 
munity. During  the  summer  companies  of  home  guards 
were  organized  in  different  sections  of  the  county,  holding 
themselves  in  readiness  to  protect  the  lives  and  property 
of  the  citizens.  At  Hiawatha  there  was  a very  large  and 
finely  drilled  company  under  command  of  Capt.  I.  J.  La- 
cock,  and  at  Hamlin,  Capt.  I.  B.  Hoover  had  cammand  of 
a good  company  of  true  men.  At  Robinson  a company  was 
organized  and  in  readiness,  and  possibly  at  other  points  in 
the  county.  In  the  latter  part  of  summer  and  early  part 
of  autumn,  the  work  of  making  the  crops  being  over,  a 
large  number  of  the  young  men  went  into  the  service  fol- 
lowed during  the  winter  and  spring  by  many  others,  until 
few  able-bodied  men  were  left  behind.  The  records  fail 
utterly  to  give  to  Brown  county  the  credit  of  her  full  quota 
that  volunteered  in  defense  of  their  country.  Many  were 
credited  to  the  counties  where  they  enlisted,  and  others 
were  put  down  without  giving  the  place  of  residence.  In 
justice  to  th  • brave  boys  and  to  the  noble  county  they  rep- 
r sent  d,  a list  is  here  given  of  those  who  were  actual  rt-si- 
d nts  of  Brown  county  at  the  time  of  entering  the  army. 
Many  names  are,  doubtless,  omitted  that  should  be  here, 
l»ut  th- list  has  been  compil  'd  with  great  care  after  ex- 
hausting all  m ans  of  information  at  our  command.  This 
list  comprises  nearly  two  hundred  names.  At  this  time 
th  • largest  voti  that  had  ever  been  polled  in  the  county 
w is  four-hundr  d-and-tw  lity-fivc,  so  it  would  seem  that 


of  all  the  voters  m the  comity  went 
The  following  are  the  names  : 


into  the  army. 

A.  11.  Anderson 
Andrew  Armstrong 
Geo.  W.  Bunce 
J M.  Brad  lord 
John  Bert  well 
Samuel  \V.  Buckley 
Ashley  Cliase 
Frauk  Chaudler 
TDaddeus  Corbou 
lleury  Cheal 
11.  L.  Dean 

A.  Ezliue 

D.  E.  Fowler 
Martin  Ford 
Will,  Graham 
Joseph  6.  Hill 
Chas.  B.  Hauber 
Alex.  Johnson 
Chester  Jones 
Samuel  Kaiserman 
11  H.  Lynn 

1).  U.  Muire 
Levi  Morrill 
Frans  Marak,  Jr. 

IS.  T.  Meredith 
A.  Meisenheimer 
Dauiel  W.  Owen 

E.  N.  Ordway 
Joseph  H.  Poe 
Stephen  Quaile 
A.  Richardson 
Marshall  P.  Rush 

I.  N.  Speer 
Isaac  A.  Sawiu 
Moses  Scveir 
James  F.  Starnes 
Francis  M.  Starues 
Isaac  Selleg 
JSVwtou  Seveir 
Eli  Swordicrgcr 
David  C.  Swayzie 
C.  E.  Simmonds 
John  Schilling 
Samuel  Teas 
Lewis  Vaughn 

J.  A.  Wilson 
John  Weiss 

W.  S.  Woodcock 


Alex.  Abshear 
Simeon  Austy 
Chas.  T.  Boomer 
Geo.  ii.  Burgh 
W.  11.  Bert  well 
T.  b'.  Barnuin 
Albert  Chaudler 
Johu  Y.  c/ook 
Chas.  Cowley 
James  Clark 
Sam'l  Donaldson 
Conrad  Englekart 
Johu  A.  Furnish 

R.  H.  Fletcher 
Johu  L.  Graham 
B.  F.  Hear  to  u 
John  Hauber 
James  Jellisou 
J.  Lv.  Kliuelelter 
Thus.  Kelley 
Peter  Lynch 

E.  ft . Morrill 
U-  11  McCauley 
James  J.  Miller 
Jacob  Miller 
llarvev  .Nichols 
David  Oldtield 

S.  U.  Probaser 
P.  G.  Parker 
L.  M.  Risley 
Chas.  E.  Robinson 
Johu  W.  Smith 

F.  M.  Stum  bo 
Luther  Sperry 
Edwin  Selleg 
Jacob  Sigafous 
James  Sherman 
Dudley  Sawyer 
Isaac  Schmidt 
Jacob  Stilwcll 
F.  W.  Steigler 
Alonzo  Scott 
Francis  Sevier 
Andrew  Twidweil 
Albert  Vaughn 
Amasiah  Weseott 
Phillip  Weiss 
Wm.  Wilkinson 
Edward  Hickman 


Johu  Abshear 
Levi  C.  Audersou 
John  Baruuui 
Richard  M.  Beau 
Eli  F.  Beutou 
J.  u.  Bradford 
Melvin  Cnaudler 
Thurston  Ciiaae 
T B.  Cummings 
C.M.  G.  Duaeud&ehou 
Daniel  Ellis 

A.  C.  Foater 
W.  11.  F urnish 
lleury  11.  Graham 
win.  Gentry 
Hiram  llortou 
Peter  Hattleld 
Frank  D.  Jellisou 
S,  Jv.  Kliuelelter 
lleury  Leucu 
Wm.  Liutjuist 
W.  P.  MeCuaUey 
J.  S.  Marshall 
Andrew  McLaughlin 
Thomas  Martin 
Abram  Morwood 
John  Uldlield 
John  W.  Proctor 
Jonathan  (£uick 
Wm.  Richardson 
Sam’l  Richards 
jJosiah  A.  Suively 
Adam  Schmidt 

J.  S.  Stillwell 

B.  F.  oweetland 
Jouathau  W.  Scott 
Isaac  Sweetland 
Wm.  S tarns 

Benj . F.  Strange 
Winslow  W.  Smith 
Abraham  Sumpter 
Henry  Smith 
Thos.  Strange 
John  Uliuan 
Wm.  C.  Vassar 
A.  D.  Westerfield 
SitniT  F.  Witknow 
A.  H.  Watson 
Johu  Zimmerman 


J.  11.  Armstrong 
L.  C.  Bo  1 linger 
Geo  Bird 
Jnhn  Brady 
Robert  Bradley 

C.  Beutie^ 

Clias.  Chandler 
d • C • Carnes 
J ouu  Clou 
d.  P.  uiuKiuson 

B.  o.  Eye 
h.  S.  Foster 
Joan  Feitchter 
Ivobert  Gaston 
lleury  d . Gillespie 
lleury  Hickman 
vV.  M.  Jouuaou 
Robert  .Jein»ou 
1\  iv.  iviineieiter 
Daniel  Leucu 
Lewis  Lawreucee 
Zacii.  Mallows 
Abram  Marshall 
c.  Meisenueimer 
Wm.  G.  Mereuitn 
A.  J.  uweu 
Geo.  S.  Osman 
Robert  Pollock 
M.  A.  (Quigley 
Wm.  Richards 
Johu  T.  Reeves 
Albert  G . Speer 
Michael  Sehuiidt 
W.  G.  Sargent 
Johu  M.  Suively 
Chas.  D.  Stumbo 
Johu  F.  Snields 
Gottleib  Spabe 
Johu  F.  Spenser 
John  Smith 
Hesekiah  Smith 
L.  H.  Slagle 
Wm.  Schmidt 
E.  M.  Vaughn 
Benj.  Winkles 
lleury  Wilkins 

C.  V.  Wicks 
W.  C.  Wyatt 


Brown  county  lias  its  list  of  martyrs  who  sacrificed  I heir 
lives  to  save  their  country.  Henry  H.  Graham,  John  B. 
Graham,  John  W.  Smith,  Josiah  A.  Suively,  baniel  Lauch, 
L.  C.  Bolinger,  Samuel  Donaldson,  D.  U.  Muire,  E.  M. 
Vaughn,  Edwin  Seely,  James  Sherman,  John  Y.  Cook, 


BROWN'  COUNTY. 


45 


Samuel  Keiserman,  W.  S.  Woodcock,  Abraham  Sumpter, 
J.  A.  Wilson,  L.  M.  Risley,  T.  B.^  Cummings,  Chas.  B. 
Haulier,  Simeon  Ansty,  J.  L.  Bradford,  John  Hauber,., 
Newton  Leveir,  Jolm  N.  Spaurer  and  Samuel  F.  Withrow 
all  sleep  the  “ sleep  that  knows  no  waking  ” in  southern 
grsves  ; but  their  brave  comrades  who  survive  will  ever 
cherish  their  memories,  and  the  true  and  the  good  will 
ever  hold  in  grateful  remembrance  the  names  of  our  fallen 
heroes. 

The  Legislature  of  18bd  again  changed  the  law  in  re- 
lation to  county  courts,  and  adopted  the  old  plan  of 
electing  three  commissioners  to  transact  county  business. 
At  the  election,  held  Nov.  26th,  I860,  W.  B.  Barnett, 

I saac  !>.  Hoover  and  James  Rounds  were  elected  county 
commissioners,  and  met  on  the  2nd  of  April,  organizing  by 
choosing  W.  B.  Barnett  chairman.  Henry  Graves  had 
previously  resigned  as  county  clerk,  and  H.  R.  Dutton  had 
been  appointed.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  this  board  was  to 
require  the  clerk  to  make  out  a statement  of  the  receipts 


and  expenditures  of  the  county  from  the  time  of  its  organi- 
zation to  April  1st,  18(10. 

I bis  report  shows  that  llie  total  amount 
of  warrants  issued  was  $7,713.02 

Amount  of  appropriations  for  which  no  war- 

ra tits' had  been  issued  835.00 


Total  amt.  of  appropriations  $8,548.02 


1 he  total  amount  of  warrants  redeemed  $2,187.18 

Taxes  due  on  lauds  bid  in  by  county  300.90 

Tax  due  on  roll  of  1859  4231.01 


Total  $6718.09 

Leaving  au  indebtedness  of  31828.93 


1 1 1 e tax  levy  for  this  year  was  live  mills  on  the  dollar. 
< >u  the  4th  of  April  David  Fee  Ides  was  Appointed  Superin- 
tendent ol  Schools  in  place  of  Janies  A.  Stanley,  resign- 
ed. The  reasons  for  Mr.  Stanley’s  resignation 
are  not  given,  but.  as  the  records  of  the  county  show 


41) 


HISTOKY  OF  ' 


that  the  commisioners  allowed  lain  $8.00  for  the  first  six 
months  services,  it  is  not  strange  that  he  did  not  desire  to 
continue  in  the  office.  The  new  Superintendent,  however, 
did  better,  as  he  received  $12.00  for  his  first  three  months 
services.  This  board  of  commissioners  only  held  their  po- 
sitions until  the  regular  election  in  November,  of  1800,  when 
James  Round,  Lewis  C.Dunn  and  Wm. Vassal-  were  elected. 
James  Round  was  chairman  of  this  board.  Mr.  Vassal-,, 
however,  went  into  the  army  early  in  the  autumn  of  1801 , 
and  Tlios.  Ellis  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

In  the  spring  of  1801  the  first  paper  ever  printed  in 
the  county  was  struck  off;  Dr.  P.  G.  Parker  was  editor  and 
proprietor,  and  the  sheet  was  called  the  Brown  County 
Union.  Its  publication  was  continued  through  tiic  sum- 
mer and  autumn,  but  in  the  winter  the  office  was  entirely 
destroyed  by  fire  and  no  effort  was  made  to  continue  its 
publication.  The  office  was  in  the  lower  story  of  the 
building  owned  by  II.  M.  Robinson,  Esq.,  and  stood 
on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  law  office 
of  Killey  & May.  Mi-.  Robinson  was  at  the  time  living 
in  the  upper  story  of  the  building,  and  narrowly 
escaped  with  himself  and  family,  losing  all  of  their  house- 
hold goods. 

In  March,  1881,  H.  R.  Dutton,  Senator  from  this 
district,  was  appointed  State  Treasurer  to  fill  a vacancy , 
and  at  the  following  election  he  was  elected  to  that  office. 
W.  B.  Barnett  was  elected  Senator  to  fill  this  vacancy. 
At  the  general  election,  in  Nov.,  18(12,  W.  W.  Guthrie 
was  elected  Attorney  General  of  the  state,  being  the  third 
state  officer  taken  from  Brown  county.  Since  the  expira- 
tion of  his  term  of  office,  this  county  has  had  no  represen- 
tation on  the  state  board,  though  it  is  believed  that  there 
have  been  residents  of  the  county  who  would  have  ac- 
cepted positions  had  t hey  been  elected. 

At  the  election,  held  Nov.,  1861,  James  Round,  Tlios. 
Ellis  and  Noah  Hanson  were  elected  commissioners,  and 
E.  L.  Pound  county  clerk.  Tlios.  Ellis  was  elected  chair- 
man. The  term  of  office  of  this  board  commenced  Jan. 


15K0WX  COUNTY. 


47 


1st,  18(32  and  ended  Jan.  1st,  18(34.  The  records,  during 
the  time,  show  notliing  of  special  interest,  except  that 
the  board  observed  the  most  rigid  economy  in  their 
appropriations,  and  by  liberal  levy  did  much  to  improve 
the  credit  of  the  county.  Their  levy  for  18(32  was  five 
mills,  and  for  1863  seven  mills. 

T n December  of  1863,  James  Round,  who  had  served  the 
county  faithfully  as  a commissioner  for  several  terms, 
met  his  death  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  a gun  in 
his  own  hands.  At  the  session  of  the  board,  held  Jan. 
4th,  f.  P.  Winslow  was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy.  At  the 
same  session  the  board  appropriated  $3,000  to  build 
a jail,  and  appointed  W.  B.  Barnett  commissioner  to  take 
charge  of  the  work.  This  was  the  last  session  of  this 
board.  On  the  4th  of  April,  18(34.  M.  C.  Willis,  I.  P. 
Winslow  and  Isaiah  Travis,  who  had  been  elected  at  the 
Nov.  election,  assumed  the  duties  of  the  office.  E.  A. 
Spooner  had  been  at  the  same  time  elected  clerk.  This 
board  organised  by  choosing  M.  C.  Willis  chairman.  Upon 
consideration  of  the  jail  question,  they  decided  that  they 
had  no  authority  to  erect  public  buildings  without  first  sub- 
mitting the  question  to  a vote  of  the  electors  of  the  county, 
and  they  therefore  discharged  the  commissioner  from 
further  duty  in  the  matter.  At  their  session  in  the  follow- 
ing July,  they  decided  to  submit  the  question  of  building 
a jail  to  a vote  of  the  people  at  the  next  general  election. 
The  records  of  the  county  fail  to  show  that  any  vote 
was  taken  upon  this  subject,  but  it  seems  that  a vote  was 
taken  to  decide  whether  the  school  lands  in  the  county 
should  be  sold  or  not,  and  it  was  decided  in  the  affirma- 
tive by  a vote  of  208  to  65.  A most  unfortunate  decision 
for  the  school  fund,  as  five  years  later  the  land.-;  were 
worth  three  times  as  much  4t  the  Jan.  session,  18(35,  Mr. 
Travis  tendered  his  resignation  as  county  commissioner, 

; and  William  Morris  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy.  On 
A the  22nd  of  Oct.,  1865,  E.  L.  Pound,  County  Treasurer, 
if-  died,  and  at  a special  term  of  the  court,  held  for  that 
purpose,  the  following  resolutions  were  passed : 


in. 


4S 


ill  STONY  OF 


‘"Whereas,  in  the  mysterious  ordering  of  .Divine  Provi- 
dence, E.  L.  Pound,  Treasurer  of  Brown  county,  has  been 
removed  by  sudden  disease  and  death,  therefore 

Resolved,  that  it  is  fitting  that  we  should  place  upon 
reeord  at  this  time,  being  called  upon  to  appoint  a suc- 
cessor to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  this  death,  our 
appreciation  of  his  uniform  kindness  in  all  our  official 
intercourse.  His  fidelity  to  the  interests  and  responsi- 
bilities entrusted  to  his  care  and  perfect  integrity  in  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office,  have  won  for  him  our 
highest  esteem  and  affectionate  regard.  And  while  wc 
mourn  his  departure  as  the  loss  of  a dear,  worthy  and 
beloved  friend,  we  feelingly  tender  our  sympathies  to  the 
family  of  the  deceased,  who  are  thus  suddenly  over- 
whelmed with  grief  in  the  loss  of  a kind,  affectionate  and 
beloved  husband  and  father.” 

W.  B.  Barnett  was  appointed  treasurer  to  (ill  the 
vacancy. 

At  the  election  in  November,  a.  vote  was  taken  on  the 
jail  question,  resulting  in  a vote  of  198  for  building  a jail 
to  IK)  against.  Subsequently,  however,  objections  were 
raised  that  the  vote  was  not  a fair  one,  as  only  printed 
ballots  in  favor  of  the  proposition  were  furnished  at  the 
polls,  and  a new  election  was  ordered  and  the  proposition 
was  defeated.  This  seems  to  have  been  a wise  decision 
on  the  part  of  the  voters,  for  the  county  has  been  so 
comparatively  free  from  crime  that  it;  has  cost  much 
less  to  keep  the  prisoners  in  the  jail  of  the  adjoining 
county  than  to  maintain  a prison  at  home.  The  records 
of  the  county  show  that  in  twenty-one  years,  from  the 
first  settlement  of  the  county  in  ®$5  to  July  187b,  there 
have  been  but  thirty-three  convictions  lor  crime  of  all 
classes.  Of  these  eight  were  for  assault  and  battery. 
Thirteen  were  for  grand  larceny,  the  offense  being,  with 
lew  exceptions,  horse  stealing,  and  in  almost  every  case 
committed  by  non-residents  of  the  county  while  passing 
through  it.  The  other  twelve  convictions  were  divided  as 
follows  : Betty  larceny,  3 ; perjury,  1 ; forgery,  2 ; gaming, 

- ; selling  liquor,  4.  The  total  length  of  all  the 


P.KUW'N  COUNTY, 


4M 


sentences  was  forty-three  years  and  the  total  fines  $675. 
J t is  questionable  whether  any  other  county  in  the  United 
States  can  present  a more  favorable  showing  in  this 
respect.  Brown  county  to-day  lias  no  jail.  Who  will 
say  that  one  is  needed 't 

This  hoard  of  commissioners  managed  the  finances 
of  the  county  with  great  care  and  prudence.  Early  in 
their  term  of  office,  July,  1864,  county  warrants  were 
at  par,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present,  a period  of 
twelve  years,  no  county  warrant  has  ever  been  presented 
at  the  treasurer's  office  that  was  not  promptly  paid  at  its 
par  value. 

But  little  of  general  interest  or  importance  occurred 
in  the  county  during  the  war.  Those  who  remained 
at  home  cultivated  their  farms,  and  as  the  seasons  were 
favorable  and  prices  high  all  improved  their  condition 
pecuniarily.  So  many,  however,  were  absent  in  the  army 
that  many  fields  were  left  untilled,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  war  l here  were  hardly  as  many  acres  under  cultiva- 
tion as  at  the  commencement.  While  there  had  been 
a considerable  increase  in  wealth,  there  had  been  no 
immigration  and  consequently  no  increase  in  population, 
f n 1865  there  was  a very  general  return  of  the  soldiers, 
and  to  their  praise,  let  it  be  said,  they  engaged 
heartily  in  active  work  and  were  the  same  steady, 
true,  industrious  men  that  they  were  four  years 
before,  when  the  excitements  and  temptations  of 
army  life  were  unknown  to  them.  At  the  close  of 
the  war  real  estate  in  the  county  was  extremely  low. 
There  was  indeed  no  demand  at  all  for  it,  and  choice 
tracts  of  land  could  be  bought,  within  a few  miles 
of  Hiawatha,  at  three  dollars  per  acre.  A choice  tract  of 
land,  149  acres,  near  Morrill  station,  was  sold  during  the 
war  for  a hundred  dollar  bill,  and  this  when  gold  was 
at  a hundred  per  cent,  premium.  Ln  1866  there 
was  a slight  immigration  to  the  county,  and  this 
steadily  increased  during  1867,  1868  and  reaching 
its  height  in  1869.  The  increase  in  the  three  years 


illSTuP'i  or 


5o 

1 nearly  two  hundred  per  cent.  New  farms  were 
opened  and  improvements  of  all  kinds  were  rapidly 
carried  forward.  The  county  after  all  its  hardships 
and  deprivations  had  awakened  to  a new  life.  Among 
the  causes  producing  this  increased  activity,  no  one  was 
more  prominent  or  did  more  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
people  of  other  states  than  the  liberal  advertising  of 
the  Central  Hraneh  Cnion  Pacific  R.  It.  Co. 

KICK  A POO  PKSKItV  A T ION. 

This  company  became  the  possessors  of  the  Kickapoo 
Reservation  under  a treaty  made  with  this  tribe  of  Indians, 
dared  June  28th,  186.2,  and  ratified  by  President.  Lincoln 
M ay  1:8th,  18011,  the  Indians  reserving  only  thirty  sections 
near  the  southwest  corner  of  Lrown  county,  and  a lew 
small  and  scattered  tracts  were  taken  by  members  of 
the  tribe.  The  company  acquired  title  to  127,882  acres, 
of  which  much  the  larger  paid  was  in  Drown  county. 
For  this  large  tract  of  lands  the,  I ndians  received 
per  acre.  In  ISlid  the  railroad  company  advertised  these 
lands  for  sale,  scattering  maps  and  descriptive  circulars 
broadcast  over  the  whole  country.  The  first-  sale  of  land 
made  by  the  railroad  company  in  Drown  county,  was 
efleeted  on  the  18th  of  April,  18-67.  David  J.  Par.  s 
was  the  purchaser  and  the  tract  is  described  as  lots  <> 
and  7 of  See.  2_,  Town  8,  Range  17.  During  the  year 
isti7,  18,207  acres  were  sold,  and  as  the  company 
required  nil  time  purchasers  to  improve  one-tenth  of  their 
land  each  year  for  three  years,  the  Reserve  was  soon 
dotted  over  with  farms.  Only  18,Uuu  acres  of  this  large 
tract  remains  unsold,  and  more  than  1 ,_ou  individuals  arc 
numbered  among  the  original  purchasers.  A considerable 
amount  of  it  has  since  changed  hands  and  some  tracts 
several  times.  The  land  department  of  the  company, 
during  the  whole  time  from  its  organization  until  to-day, 
has  been  under  the  direction  and  complete  control  of 
Alaj.  \V.  F.  Downs,  and  has  been  managed  with  great 
care  and  skill.  While  the  interests  of  the 

railroad  company  have  been  carefully  watched  and  guarded 


UK  OWN  COUNTY. 


■51 

everything  has  been  clone  that  could  be  consistently  to 
favor  the  settlers.  The  utmost  leniency  lias  been  shown 
those  who  were  delinquent  in  their  payments,  and  all 
have  been  encouraged  in  their  efforts  to  make  homes. 
With  few,  very  lew  exceptions,  the  purchasers  deserved 
these  favors,  for  few  new  counties  are  ever,  blessed  with  a 
more  sterling,  honest  and  industrious  class  of  settlers  than 
those  who  improved  the  Kickapoo  Reserve  : and  no  por- 
tion of  Brown  county  can  show  liner  farms  or  better 
i mprovements. 

In  the  north-eastern  portion  of  the  county  there  is 
still  an  Indian  Reservation  belonging  to  the  lowas,  and 
embracing  some  1:1,000  acres  of  the  choicest  lands  in 
the  county.  The  settlement  of  these  lands  would  add 
largely  to  the  wealth  and  population  of  the  county. 

THE  GRASSHOPPER. 

No  sketch  of  the  county  would  be  complete  that 
omitted  to  mention  the  ravages  of  this  pest,  and  a very 
serious  question  in  the  minds  of  thoughtful  men,  is, 
whether  the  visits  of  the  locust  are  going  to  be  frequent 
enough  in  the  future  to  be  a serious  drawback  on  farming. 

1 t would  seem  a safe  rule  to  judge  the  future  by  the  past. 
Up  to  1866  there  had  been  no  grasshoppers  seen  in  the 
county,  nor  had  any  resident  of  the  county  the  slightest 
reason  to  apprehend  airy  damage  from  them.  The  county 
had  then  been  settled  twelve  years,  and  our  people  were 
in  blissful  ignorance  of  the  existence  of  this  plague.  In 
the  latter  part  of  August  of  that  year,  reports  were  brought 
in  by  settlers  on  the  frontier  that  they  had  appeared  there 
in  immense  numbers  and  were  very  destructive.  Day  by 
day  reports  came  that  they  were  drawing  nearer,  and 
about  the  8th  of  September  they  reached  the  western  line 
of  the  county,  moving  from  three  to  twelve  miles  per  day. 
On  the  lOtli  of  Sept,  the  immense  army,  which  no  man 
could  number,  reached  Hiawatha,  devouring  every  green 
thing  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  corn  fields  were 
literally  stripped,  leaving  the  bare  stalk  with  the  ears 
l hanging  to  it,  and  the  latter  often  badly  eaten.  The  corn 


was  too’  far  advanced,  however,  for  them  to  injure  it  very 
seriously,  ami  thew  only,  real  loss’  from,  themMhat  falljvas 
in  the  destruction  of  forage.  They  deposited  immense 
quantities  of  eggs  which  hatched  out  in  the  latter  part  of 
April  and  early  in  May.  This  young  crop  were,  of  course, 
obliged  to  feed  upon  whatever  was  within  their  reach 
until  they  were  large  enough  to  travel,  and  whenever  they 
hatched  in  large  numbers  near  fields  of  small  grain  there 
was  no  possibility  of  raising  it.  The  beaten  paths  and 
roads  and  the  newly  broken  prairie  seemed  to  be  favorite 
locations  for  depositing  their  eggs.  Many  fields  of  small 
grain  were  entirely  destroyed  that  spring,  while  many 
others  escaped  unharmed.  The  corn  was  not  so  much  in- 
jured though  in  some  localities  the  early  corn  was  destroy- 
ed. About  the  2'Jth  of  June  they  left  and  were  not  again 
seen  during  the  season.  But  a small  portion  of  the 
county  was  under  cultivation  then  and  the  total  loss  was 
small  compared  with  that  of  1874.  Ln  the  fall  of  1868 
they  again  appeared,  but  far  less  numerous  and  causing  far 
less  loss.  Their  appearance  at  this  time  caused  very  little 
excitement  and  but  slight  importance  was  attached  to  it ; 
a few  eggs  were  deposited  and  the  following  spring  a few 
gardens  were  injured,  but  not  much  attention  was  paid  to  it. 
In  the  early  part  of  August,  1874,  they  again  appeared. 
At  this  time  the  country  west  was  much  better  settled,  and 
the  railroads,  penetrating  to  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
brought  the  news  of  the  approaching  hosts  while  theyr  were 
hundreds  of  miles  away  and  weeks  before  they  reached 
here-  The  season  had  been  a very  dry  one,  with  frequent, 
hot  south  winds,  so  common  an  attendant  of  drouths,  and 
so  exceedingly  disagreeable.  The  corn  at  best  would  have 
been  nearly  a failure,  but  what  little  there  was  of  grain  or 
foliage  speedily  disappeared.  Trees  were  stripped  of  then- 
leaves.  Apple  and  peach  orchards  could  frequently  be 
seen  loaded  with  rich  fruit  but  without  a leaf  to  protect  it 
from  the  hot  sun.  In  many  cases  the  fruit  was  much 
injured,  and  it  was  a common  sight  to  see  peach  trees  I 
hanging  full  of  pits,  the  meat  of  the  fruit  having  been  I 


BKOWX  COI  N I T. 


i 

'll 

e 

(1 

itj 

A 

kvew 
ufi  I 
ieit 
lie 
Ciit 
jucU 
trees 
heel 


neatly  nibbled  off.  I n some  cases  the  bark  was  eaten 
from  trees.  Nothing  escaped,  for  they  seemed  quite  in- 
different as  to  the  quality  of  their  food.  Tomato  plants, 
onions,  and  even  tobacco  plants  were  utterly  destroyed. 
Again  they  laid  their  eggs  in  immense  numbers,  the  ground 
being  literally  perforated  by  them.  Heavy  freight  trains 
on  the  railroads  were  frequently  delayed  for  hours  by 
1 heir  gathering  on  the  track  in  large  numbers,  the  wheels 
crushing  them  and  forming  an  oily,  soapy  substance.  The 
next  spring  but  little  apprehension  of  much  damage  was 
felt,  and  the  farmers  put  in  an  unusual  amount  of  small 
erain.  When  the  warm  days  of  spring  came  the  little 
pests  hatched  out  in  numbers  far  exceeding  anything 
before  experienced.  The  season  was  unusually  favorable 
for  small  grain,  and  on  the  1st  of  May  there  was  as 
line  a prospect  of  an  abundant  harvest  as  was  ever  known. 
Ten  days  later  the  myriads  of  little  locusts, fast  developing, 
were  rapidly  sweeping  it  a way, and  on  the  1st  of  June  but  few 
fields  of  grain  were  left  in  the  county.  The  eastern  part 
of  (he  county  suffered  much  more  than  the  western  half, 
owi ug  to  there  having  been  fewer  eggs  deposited  in  the 
latter  section.  The  corn  was  much  injured  ; nearly  all  the 
first,  planting  was  utterly  destroyed.  Many  re-planted  at 
once  without  waiting  until  they  had  passed  away,  and 
again  lost  it  all.  In  one  case,  a farmer  planted  two 
hundred  acres  four  times.  Those  wrere  indeed,  dark  days 
for  the  farmers.  All  hope  for  raising  anything  for  the 
season  was  well-nigh  gone.  The  middle  of  June  came  and 
still  the  locusts  tarried.  The  farmers  with  wonderful 
courage  and  patience  had  ploughed  up  their  small  grain 
fields  where  the  crop  had  been  destroyed,  and  were  busily 
engaged  in  planting  corn.  From  the  12th  to  the  20th  of 
June  an  immense  amount  of  corn  was  planted.  In  an 
ordinary  season  this  would  have  been  too  late  to  make  any 
crop,  hut  the  season  proved  most  favorable.  Rains  were 
frequent  and  not  too  heavy.  About  the  20th  of  June  the 
grasshoppers  commenced  leaving,  and  by  the  2oth  not  one 
could  be  found.  If  ever  men  showed  true  pluck  under 


.'I 


II  liSTUK  V <)!• 


discouraging  circumstances,  the  farmers  did  during  the 
spring  of  I dT ').  Braver  men  never  lived — truer  men 
never  hit  bread.  The  season  continued  favorable  and  an 
immense  crop  of  corn  and  vegetables  was  raised. 

RAILROADS. 

Ida r 1 v in  1 SH;i  an  etfori  was  ma.de  to  build  a railroad 
from  St.  Joseph,  west,  through  the  northern  tier  of 
counties  in  Kansas,  and  four  miles  of  track  was  laid  con- 
necting Ell  wood  and  Wathena ; hut  the  war  stopped  all 
work  on  it,  and  nothing  further  was  done  for  several  years. 
In  186b  an  attempt  was  again  made  to  revive  the  work, 
and  the  Legislature  of  that  year  donated  1 25,000  acres  of 
land  to  the  Northern  Kansas  R.  R.  Co.,  an  organization 
that  had  been  formed  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  and 
making  available  this  donation  from  the  state. 

The  incorporators  of  this  company  met  for  the  purpose 
of  organization  at  Hiawatha,  May  12th,  1866,  and  elected 
Thos.  Osborn,  Geo.  Graham,  Sam’l  Lappin,  J.  E.  Smith, 
Sam'l  Speer,  W.  B.  Barnett,  J.  D,  Brumbaugh,  E.  C. 
Manning,  Jl.  E.  Ballard,  F.  H.  Drenuing  and  E.  N.  Mor- 
rill, directors.  Sam’l  Lappin  a as  chosen  President, 
E.  II.  Drenuing  Secretary, -W.  B.  Barnett  Treasurer  and 
l>.  E.  Ballard  Land  Agent.  On  the  15th  of  May  a propo- 
sition was  submitted  to  the  people  to  issue  $125,000  of  the 
bonds  of  the  county  to  this  company  to  aid  in  building  a 
railroad  through  the  county,  and  it  was  defeated  by  a 
small  majority.  On  the  16th  of  June  a vote  was  again 
taken  upon  a proposition  to  issue  $100,000  of  the  bonds  of 
the  county  for  the  same  purpose,  some  of  the  objectional 
features  of  the  previous  proposition  being  changed,  and  it 
carried  by  a majority  of  102  votes.  Soon  after,  the 
Northern  Kansas  R.  R.  Co.  consolidated  with  the  St.  Jo. 
A D.  C.  B.  R.  Co.,  the  new  organization  assuming  the 
latter  name,  fu  1869  the  road  was  graded  as  far  as 
Hiawatha,  and  in  January,  1879,  the  first  rail  was  laid  in 
1 he  county.  About  the  20th  of  February  regular  trains 
commenced  running  to  Robinson,  H.  M.  Robinson  taking 
charge  of  the  station  at  that,  place.  On  the  7th  of  March 


1JUOWN  COUNTY. 


the  trains  ran  to  Barnum’s  field,  adjoining  the  town  site  of 
Hiawatha.  A temporary  platform  was  built  there,  and  for 
two  or  three  weeks  the  trains  left  that  point.  The  present 
depot  was  soon  after  erected,  and  as  soon  as  the  track 
could  be  laid  trains  were  run  to  it,  the  first  train  reaching 
the  present  Hiawatha  depot  early  in  April.  H.  M.  Robin- 
son was  placed  in  charge  of  the  station,  and  has  continued 
to  discharge  the  duties  ever  since  to  the  full  satisfaction  of 
all.  From  him  the  following  statements  of  the  business  of 
the  road  for  the  months  of  August,  1870  and  1876,  were 
obtained : 

Freight  Received,  August,  1870  666,468  lbs 

“ Forwarded  k’  “ 436,299  “ 


Total  1,102,762  lbs 


Freight  Received,  August,  1876 
“ Forwarded  “ 


Total 


2,537,973  lbs 
2,774,373  - 


5,312,346  lbs 


Receipts  for  August,  1870 


*1745.34 

6434.71 


!With  the  completion  of  the  road  to  Hiawatha  the  town 
commenced  a rapid  growth,  which,  notwithstanding  the 
hard  times,  has  continued  to  a great  degree  ever  since. 
The  work  on  the  road  was  pushed  rapidly  during  the 
summer  of  1870,  and  in  August  the  cars  were  running  to 
I . Sabetha,  in  Nemaha  countv. 


i 

; | 
e 

0. 1 
ie 

as  j 

ui 

illS 


SCHOOLS. 

The  citizens  of  Brown  county,  from  its  early  settlement, 
have  taken  an  active  interest  in  schools,  and  the  result  is 
shown  in  the  numerous  comfortable  and  tasty  school 
houses  that  are  found  in  every  part  of  the  county.  Schools 
were  taught  in  the  county  as  early  as  1856  and  1857,  but 
the  first  regular  organized  district  was  the  “ Carson  Ris- 


: trict,”  organized  by  Supt.  J.  A.  Stanley.  March  11th.  1859. 


ill, -slum  oi' 


On  t he  21st  of  April  the  first  school  board  was  elected  : 

Noah  Hanson,  Director,  , LB.  Hoover,  Clerk 

A.  M.  Kendall.  Treasurer. 

The  next  organized  district pvas  the  one  adjoining,  in 
the^  Myers  neighborhood.  The  Annual  Report  ot  the 
county  Superintendent  for  185b  shows  that  there  were  in 
Brown  county,  at  that  time,  20-1  children  ol  school  age. 
That  two  schools  had  been  taught,  and  that  95  children 
had  attended  these  schools.  The  total  amount  ol  money 
raised  that  year  for  building  school  houses  was  8980. 
There  were  four  organized  districts  in  the  county  and  two 
school  houses.  Now,  there  arc  sixty  seven  school  districts 
wholly  within  the  county,  and  seven  joint  districts  made 
up  partly  of  territory  within  the  county.  These  districts 
all  have  houses,  and,  with  the  exception  of  eight  or  ten, 
the  buildings  are  highly  creditable  to  the  citizens.  The 
total  valuation  of  these  buildings  including  iurniture,  is 
$87,000.  All  of  the  districts  have  maintained  schools  the 
past  year, — none  less  than  three  months  while  many  have 
had  nine  months  ; the  average  in  the  whole  county  being 
more  than  six  months.  The  total  number  of  children  of 
school  age  in  the  county  in  1875  was  285 2,  and  the  sum  ol 
$29,246  was  raised  for  school  purposes  that  year. 

CHURCHES. 

A brief  summary  of  the  different  church  organizations  is 
all  that  can  be  given.  Lu  1857  clergymen  of  different  de- 
nominations held  regular  services  throughout  the  county 
As  there  were  no  church  buildings  or  school  houses  these 
meetings  were  held  during  the  winter,  in  private  houses, 
and  in  the  pleasant  weather  of  summer  in  groves.  The 
Methodist,  Congregationalist  and  Baptist  organizations 
were  first  represented.  For  the  first  five  years  the  Metho- 
dists had  but  little  strength  and  gained  very  slowly.  In 
June,  1861,  they  had  a membership  of  but  fifteen.  Revs. 
Allspaugh,  Lawrence,  Green  and  Buffington  were  the  first 
workers  in  the'  new  field.  In  1861-62  Rev.  Mr.  Buffington 
preached  on  a circuit  embracing  Sabetha,  Padonia,  Poney 
Creek,  Hamlin,  Capioma  and  Grenada.  On  the  12th  of 
April,  1862,  a conference  was  held  at  Hamlin.  At  this 
session  E.  N,  Knapp  and  John  Belk  were  elected  stewards. 
There  were  at  this  time  nineteen  members  in  full  commun-  J 
ion  and  fifty-eight,  on  probation.  The  growth  of  the  church  | 


was  from  this  time  quite  rapid.  In  i860  they  erected  their 
first,  church  building.  the  substantial  stone  now  standing  in 
Hiawatha.  The  corner  stone  was  laid  with  imposing  cere- 
mony on  the  oth  of  July  of  that  year.  The  membership 
now  numbers  between  three  and  four  hundred,  and  they 
have  another  substantial  church  edifice  at  Robinson. 

The  Congregationalists  first  organized  at  house  of  E.  H. 
Niles,  on  Walnut  creek.  Sept,  26th,  ls-~>s,  Revs.  J.  H.  Byrd 
and  R.  D.  Parser  conducting  the  services,  and  eight  per- 
sons were  received  into  the  new  church.  June  BtJth.  1859 
Rev.  G.  G.  Rice  commenced  his  ministerial  labors  with 
this  church  and  continued  with  them  several  years. 
Church  organizations  are  now  maintained  at  Hiawatha. 
Fairview  and  Hamlin,  This  denomination  has  substantial 
church  buildings  at  Hiawatha  and  Hamlin,  and  a member- 
ship in  the  county  of  one  hundred  and  twenty. 

The  Baptists  first  commenced  their  work  in  this  county 
in  1808,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Frink  being  the  first  regular  minister 
of  that  denomination.  The  year  before  Rev.  Mr.  Towne 
bad  preached  several  times  at  House  of  E.  H.  N iles,  but  he 
left  the  country  immediately  after  the  Lowa  Trust  Land 
.sales.  Rev.  Mr.  Frink  was  an  able  and  earnest  man,  but 
Ins  labors  in  the  state  were  short  as  he  died  in  1860.  In 
1869  Elder  Hodge,  of  Michigan,  father  of  Mrs.  E.  A. 
Spooner,  preached  very  acceptably  on  Walnut  creek.  The 
first  church  organization  in  the  'county  of  this  denomina- 
tion was  entered  into  at  house  of  Luther  Sperry,  near 
Hiawatha,  in  1860.  Elder  Tibbets,  of  New  York,  was 
moderator  of  the  presbytery  that  organized  this  church. 
It  was  called  the  First  Baptist  church  of  Hiawatha,  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Alward  preached  the  sermon  on  the  occasion. 
This  denomination  has  been  represented  by  able,  earnest 
men  and  has  increased  rapidly  in  the  county.  It  now  has 
in  the  county,  one  church  building,  five  organized  churches, 
seven  ministers  and  a membershiD  of  nearly  four  hundred. 

The  first  Presbyterian  church  in  the  county  was  organ- 
ized by  Rev.  F.  E.  Sheldon,  at  Hiawatha,  on  the  Kth  of 
July,  1870.  In  July,  1872,  Rev.  S.  T.  Davis  took  charge 
of  fhe  work,  aud  under  bis  earnest  and  efficient  labors  the 
church  increased  rapidly  in  numbers.  They  now  have  a 
near  and  tasty  brick  church  thirty  by  forty  feet  and  a 
membership  of  nearly  fifty.  A few  months  since  Rev.  Mr. 


Davis  left  for  a.  wider  Held  of  labor  to  the  irreparable  loss 
of  this*  church. 

The  first  Christian  church  in  the  county  was  organized 
hv  Rev.  T.  K.  Hansberry,  in  1868.  and  was  known  as  the 
Hamlin  and  Padonia  church,  and  for  three  years  Mr.  Hans- 
herrv  had  charge  of  it.  Now,  there  are  two  large  churches 
at  tliese  places  under  the  charge  of  Revs.  J.  F.  Berry  and 
das.  McGuire.  At  Hamlin  a large  church  building  has  just 
been  erected  and  the  society  is  in  a flourishing  condition. 
In  the  county  there  are  five  organized  churches  of  this  de- 
nomination with  a membership  of  over  four  hundred. 

Rev.  John  Beck,  of  the  Reformed  church,  organized  its 
first  society  in  the  county  on  the  28th  of  June,  1878,  at 
Grand  Prairie,  f t now  has  nourishing  churches  at  Hiawa- 
tha, Grand  Prairie  and  Fairview,  numbering  in  all  about 
seventy-live  members,  under  the  charge  of  Rev.  E.  Richards. 

Rev.  J.  11.  Ballou  (Universalist,)  organized  a church, 
Aug.,  18(17 , ‘at  Hiawatha, of  twenty-one  members,  and  Revs. 
Ballou,  Whitney,  Hebbard  and  Bartlett  were  its  ministers  ; 
for  two  years  no  regular  services  have  been  held. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterians  also  had  an  organiza- 
tion for  several  years,  but  of  late  no  meetings  have  been 
held. 

The  Catholics. have  a church  building  at  Marak's,  built 
in  1 869,  and  a flourishing  organization  They  have  also 
an  organization  in  the  western  part  of  the  county. 

'The  Episcopal  church  has  been  represented  in  the  county 
since  1886  by  Rev.  Geo.  Turner,  who  has  been  actively  en- 
gaged in  advancing  the  interests  of  that  sect. 

AH  of  the  churches  have  been  actively  engaged  in  the 
Sabbath  School  work.  During  the  summer  of  1875  thirty- 
live  sabbath  schools  were  sustained  in  the  county.  The 
reports  from  Povvhattan,  Walnut  and  Hiawatha  ' townships 
show  1500  persons  enrolled  in  the  sabbath  schools  of  those 
townships.  The  other  live  townships  have  failed  to  report, 
but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  three  thousand  persons  are  con- 
nected with  the  sabbath  schools  of  ’lie  county.  This  em- 
braces at  least  one-third  of  the  population  of  the  county. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The  first  newspaper  in  the  county,  as  has  been  before 
stated,  was  published  in  spring  of  1861  by  Dr.  P.  G.  Par- 
ker. 1 1 had  a bard  struggle  for  existence  and  when  the  of- 
fice was  destroyed  by  fire  the  following  winter  no  effort 


13HUWX  COUNTY. 


59 

was  made  to  revive  it.  On  the  20th  of  Aug.,  1864,  H.  P. 
Stebbins  commeneed  the  publication  of  the  Union  Senti- 
nel. From  a file  of  this  paper,  in  the  possession  of  Capt. 

1.  J.  Lacock,  we  leani  that  the  First  Annual  Exhibition  of 
the  Brown  County  Agricultural  Society  was  held  Oct.  13th 
and  14th,  1864,  and  was  considered  a decided  success.  . 
That  fall  an  enterprise  was  inaugurated  to  build  a wind 
flouring  mill  upon  an  entirely  new  principle,  and  during 
(he  two  succeeding  years  a large  circular  building  was 
erected  on  the  north-east,  portion  of  the  town  site.  The 
mill  was  completed  at  a cost  of  nearly  812.000,  but  was 
not  successful,  and  at  this  time  no  vestige  of  the  building 
remains.  Mr.  Stebbins  continued  the  publication  of  his 
paper  under  many  difficulties  until  the  16th  of  August, 
1866.  when  he  transferred  it  to  Ira  J.  Lacock  and  J.  \V. 
Oberholtzer  who  at  once  made  a decided  improvement  in 
it.  The  following  notice  which  we  find  in  its  issue  of  Oct. 
2d,  1867,  gives  a good  idea  of  the  business  houses  of  Hia- 
watha at  that  time,  and  shows  a striking  contrast  when 
compared  with  the  business  houses  of  to-day : 

1' oe  undersigned  hereby  agree  to  close  their  stores  and  places  of  business  oil  Friday. 
Oct.  *4 1 • , 1K67,  it  being  the  second  day  of  the  Fair,  &c. , &c  , 

Ora  res  & Stretch,  W.  B.  B-iruett,  Schilling  & Mcisenheimer,  R.  S.  Fairchild. 

Ou  the  7th  of  Nov.  1867,  Messrs.  Lacock  A Oberholtzer 
sold  their  interest  iu  the  Sentinel  to  David  Downer,  and 
retired  from  the  business  quite  satisfied  that  publishing  a 
newspaper  in  a new  county  required  a large  amount  of  labor 
for  a very  small  compensation.  Mr.  Downer  continued  the 
publication  of  the  Sentinel  until  Dot.  1st,  1870,  when  it 
quietly  breathed  irs  last,  no  notice  whatever  having  been 
given  that  it  would  be  discontinued.  The  probable  cause 
of  this  sudden  death  of  the  Sentinel  may  be  found  in  the 
fact,  that,  on  the  30th  of  April,  1870,  A.  N.  Ruley  had 
commenced  the  publication  of  the  Hiawatha  Dispatch, 
which  still  lives  to  carry  its  weekly  message  to  its  many 
readers.  June,  1874,  Davis  <fc  Watson  commenced  the 
publication  of  the  Brown  County  Advocate,  and  on  the  23d 
of  July,  1874,  Mr.  Watson  retired  and  S L.  Roberts  suc- 
ceeded him.  About  the  2uth  of  Feb.,  1875,  Mr  Davis  re- 
tired and  D.  L.  Burger  became  interested  in  its  publication. 
In  Oct.,  1875,the  name  was  changed  to  the  Kansas  Herald. 
A.  T.  McCreary  became  a member  of  the  firm,  remain- 
ing till  April,  1876,  when  he  retired  and  Burger  <fc  Roberts 
assumed  control  again.  The  Herald  is  well  established. 


HISTORY  or- 


The  following  is  a list  of  the  names  of  those  who  have 
represented  Brown  county  in  the  territorial  and  state  legis- 
lature, with  votes  of  opposing  candidates  and  members  of 
council  ; district  comprising  Doniphan,  Brown,  Nemaha, 
Marshall, Riley  and  Pottowattomie  and  all  (hat  section  of  the 
state  west  of  those  counties  (being  more  than  one-fourth 
of  all  the  state, in  point  of  area,)  entitled  to  two  members  : 

Date  of  Election  Name  of  Candidate.  No.  of  votes 

Oct.  5,  1857.  B.  Harding  F.  8.  ofWathena  1255 

A J.  Mead  **  “ of  Manhatten  1255 
Frank  .J.  Marshall  Dem.  875 

Henry  8.  Creal  •*  875 

Nov.  8,  1859.  District  composed  of  Brown,  Nemaha,  Potto- 
wattamie  Marshall  and  Washington, entitled  to  one  member. 

Luther  R.  Palmer  F.  8.  47< > 

Geo.  Graham  “ “ 1 87 

W.  W.  Guthrie  “ - 2<i! 

Chas.  Li.  Deming  Dem.  182 

Dec.  (5,  1859.  Election  held  under  the  Wyandotte  constitu- 
tion, Atchison  and  Brown  comprising  the  district;  entitled 
to  two  Senators. 

•John  A.  Martin  Rep.  919 

11.  11  Dutton  “ 925 

Samuel  W.  Wade  Dem.  (>29 

G.  0.  Chase  “ 676 


Nov.  5,  1861 . Election  to  (ill  vacancies.  John  A.  Martin 
having  been  appointed  postmaster  and  H.  R.  Dutton 
elected  State  Treasurer. 


W.  B.  Barnett  Rep. 

1284 

John  J.  Ingalls  “ 

81 1 

Geo.  W.  Bowman  Rep. 

705 

Nov.  4.  1862. 

Brown  and  Nemaha  comprising 

the  district. 

Byron  Sperry  Rep. 

632 

Nov.  8,  1864. 

Samuel  A.  Speer  Rep. 

475 

James  A.  Pope  “ 

251 

Nov  6,  1866. 

George  Graham  “ ' 

757 

J.  E.  Smith  Dem. 

224 

Nov.  3,  1868. 

Albert  G.  Speer  Rep. 

1188 

J.  Martin  Dem. 

480 

xov.  8.  1870. 

Jos.  Cracraft  Ind.  Rep. 

088 

W.  B.  Slosson  “ 

001 

Nov.  6,  1872. 

E.N.  Morrill 

2106 

J.  S.  Tyler  Lib.  “ 

752 

Nov.  3, 1874. 

J M.  Miller  “ 

1485 

Jot1.  Cracraft,  Reform 

1210 

lUtOWN  COUNTY. 


61 


Date  of  Election  Name  of  Candidate.  No.  of  votes 

Ool.  5,  18-37.  Members  of  House  of  Representatives. 
Brown  and  Nemaha  entitled  to  one  member. 

E.  N.  Morrill  F,  S.  288 

E.  M.  Hubbard  Deni.  102 

Oct.  4, 1858.  Geo.  (1  rah  am  Ifcep.  129 

11.  II . Patterson  Dem.  78 

H Sutherland  Rep.  28 

Nov.  8,  1859.  Brown  county  being  entitled  to  one  member. 

H.  R.  Dutton  Rep.  282 

A.  B.  Anderson  Rep.  6.0 


Dee.  6,  1859.  Election  under  the  Wyandotte  Constitution. 
Atchison  and  Brown  being  one  District  entitled  to  six 
members.  The  vote  of  Atchison  county  was  not  return- 
ed to  the  Secretary  of  State.  Ira  H.  Smith  and  Geo.  E. 
Irwin  were  the  candidates  from  Brown  county,  the  for- 
mer receiving  in  this  county  175  votes,  the  latter  168 
votes.  Atchison  county  also  gave  Mr.  Smith  a majority 
and  he  was  consequently  elected. 

Nov.  6,  i860.  IV.  W.  Guthrie  Rep.  261 

Ira.  J.  Lacock  Dem.  161 

Nov.  5,  18^1.  Atchison  and  Brown  same  district. 

0.  HT.  McCauley  Rep.  888 

M.  C.  Willis  Dem.  435 

Nov.  4,  I86J.  Brown  county  being  a single  district. 

I ra  J.  Lacock  Rep.  93 

D.  K.  Babbit  “ 6 


Nov.  3, 1866.  Brown  county  being  entitled  to  two  members 


J 1 tii  Dist. 

Ira  J.  Lacock  Rep. 

115 

Lewis  G Dunn  Rep. 

62 

1 2 th 

Geo.  E.  Irwin  “ 

78 

| 

•• 

M.  L.  Sawin 

45 

Nov.  8,  1861. 

1 ith 

“ 

N.  P.  Rawlings  “ 

119 

V 

R.  B.  Ransom  “ 

93 

12th 

D.  Sutherland 

87 

J.  S.  Tyler 

61 

Nov.  2,  ls6o. 

Uth 

“ 

J.ra  J.  Lacock 

148 

1 2 th 

“ 

C.  E.  Parker 

110 

0 

ii 

J.  M,  Meredith  Dem. 

44 

Nov.  6,  1866. 

11th 

a 

M.  C.  Willis,  Rep. 

192 

U 

-I.  W . Oberholtzer,  Rep. 

114 

12  th 

u 

C.  E.  Parker, 

158 

At 

Robt.  Rhea,  Dem. 

9 

ii i stow  <>i" 


Hate  of 

l/lcrfiou 

Name  ol'  Candidate.  No.  of  votes 

Nov.  • >, 

18(57 

llil) 

Dist.  E.  Biercr,  Rep. 

211 

I.ru  J.  Lacoek,  Rep. 

loo 

lltli 

Jolin  Downs,  k- 

185 

“ ,J.  S.  Tyler 

29 

Nov.  3, 

18158 

lUli 

Dist.  M.  B.  Bowers,  Rep. 

448 

bb 

“ Sam  i Smouse,  Dem. 

130 

1 2th 

“ Geo.  E.  Erwin,  Rep. 

130 

“ 

“ Jolm  S.  Tyler,  “ 

119 

-•  .John  Meredith,  Dem, 

42 

Nov.  2, 

1 8 <3'4 

i nli 

Dist.  J.  E.  Babbit,  Rep. 

317 

*• 

E.  Biercr  Dem. 

113 

Ut!i 

••  A.  Curtis  Rep. 

102 

“ 

“ D.  L.  Anderson  Rep. 

56 

Nov.  S, 

1870 

Lull 

Dist.  J.  I*1.  Babbit  Rep. 

225 

“ A.  G.  Speer  •• 

132 

“ Clias.  Kuabb  Dem. 

201 

1 41  It 

C.  E.  Parker  Rep. 

196 

(J.  E.  Irwin 

6 

Nov.  7, 

1871 . 

Ill-own  county  entitled  to  one  member. 

C.  F.  Bowron  Rep. 

747 

11.  A.  Parsons  Dem. 

315 

Nov.  •>, 

1*72 

C.  F.  Bowron  Rep. 

1122 

B.  F.  Killey  Eib.  Rep. 

35 1 

Nov.  4, 

1874 

Jos.  D Hardy  Rel.  Rep. 

922 

John  G.  Spenser 

467 

Nov.  3, 

1874 

M.  C.  Willis  Rep. 

699 

Jos.  D.  Hardy  Ref.  Rep. 

641 

Nov.  — , 

1875 

J.  P.  Davis  Rep. 

1192 

J.  P.  Mulhollen  Dem. 

225 

drown  COUNTY. 


6-T 

The  following  tallies  give  the  names  of  candidates  for 
comity  offices  with  vote  cast  at  each  election  since  18-58  : 


ELECTION  HELD  NOV.  8l’H.,  1 859. 


Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  votes' 

Sheriff 

John  H.  Schenck 

237 

A.  M.  Gifford 

21 

Registrar  of  Deeds 

Henry  Woodward 

186 



David  Peebles 

113 

County  Treasurer 

Geo.  J.  Englehart 

169 

Sam.  W.  Wade 

120 

Probate  Judge 

Benj . P-  Killey 

281 

( lounty  Clerk 

Henry  Graves 

287 

Prosecuting  Attorney 

Joel  G.  Kelsey 

238 

County  Surveyor 

Ira  H.  Smith 

137 

Co.  Supt.  of  Put).  Inst. 

James.  H,  Stanley 

261 

< loroner 

Andrew  J.  Selleg 

261 

ELECTION  HELL) 

dec.  6th,  1859. 

(Under  Wyandotte  Constitution.) 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  votes 

Prohate  J udge 

E.  Plankington 

346 

District  Clerk 

H.  L.  Dean 

176 

W V W w 

Joel  G.  Kelsey 

154 

Co.  Supt.  Pub.  Inst. 

Joseph  Paschal 

261 

M.  0.  Willis 

93 

ELECTION  HELD 

mar.  26th,  186U. 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate. 

No.  of  votes 

County  Coinmiss’r.  1st  Dist. 

W.  B.  Barnett 

165 

L.  C.  Dunn 

48 

“ “ 2d  “ 

T.  B.  Hoover 

158 

“ 

Noah  Hanson 

49 

.. 

W.  H.  Piatt 

17 

3d  “ 

James  Round 

202 

County  Assessor 

E.  A.  Spooner 

115 

..  ^ 

Joseph  Paschal 

60 

HISTORY  OF 


b; 


Name  of  Otlkc 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  votes 

Countv  Assessor 

L.  C.  Dunn 

18 

John  Maxwell 

27 

ELECTION  H ELD 

Nov.tixn,  1860. 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate. 

No.  of  votes 

( ’ounty  < Commissioner 

James  Round 

219 

William  Vassar 

261 

.. 

Lewis  C.  Dunn 

285 

<•- 

M.  C.  Willis 

165 

W.  S.  McLaughlin 

loo 

- 

W.  C.  Foster 

168 

Con iil  v Assessor 

E.  A.  Spooner 

278 

.. 

11.  C.  Cregg 

118 

Co.  Supt.  of  Schools 

G.  G.  Rice 

265 

.. 

T.  Kemper 

1 50 

County  Clerk 

E.  L.  Round 

260 

.1.  \V  . ( Iherholtzer 

1 59 

County  Attorney 

E.  W.  Plank ingfon 

261 

“ 

W.  G.  Sargent 

1 54 

Coroner 

Sam.  W.  Wade 

112 

ELECTION  HELD 

NOV.  — , 186.1. 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  votes 

< 'onnty  Commissioner 

Noah  Hanson 

268 

James  Round 

262 

•• 

Tli os.  Ellis 

266 

Sheriff 

1.  I».  Hoover 

265 

Probate  Judge 

W.  W.  Guthrie 

211 

“ 

Amasa  Owen 

16 

County  Treasurer 

Geo.  J.  Englehart 

20t  i 

.. 

Sam.  Speer 

72 

County  Clerk 

E.  I-*.  Pound 

269 

Registrar  of  Deeds 

David  Peebles 

250 

Countv  Assessor 

W.  J.  Hart 

169 

(t.  G.  Rice 

95 

County  Surveyor 

E.  H.  Niles 

266 

Siipt.  of  Common  Schools 

G.  G.  Rice 

254 

Coroner 

Orville  Root 

261 

BROWN  COUNT1'. 


ELECTION  HELD 

nov. 4th,  1862. 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of ’Candidate. 

No.  of  votes 

District  Clerk 

Joel  G.  Kelsey 

222 

Probate  Judge 

Geo.  G.  Rice 

164 

4t  44 

B.  F.  Killey 

95 

Co.  Supt.  Public  Inst. 

Geo.  G.  Rice 

249 

ELECTION  HELD 

nov.  3d,  1863. 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  votes 

Ceuntv  Treasurer 

E.  L.  Pound 

299 

County  Clerk 

E.  A.  Spooner 

298 

Sheriff 

H.  M.  Robinson 

267 

“ 

Chas.  Fox 

7 

Registrar  of  Deeds 

J.  W.  Oberlioltzer 

301 

County  Assessor 

D.  K.  Babbit 

268 

4*  4b 

Sawyer 

o 

o 

County  Surveyor 

Elbridge  Chase 

302 

Coroner 

Wm.  H.  Jones 

265 

R.  H.  Bollinger 

2 

County  Commissioner 

M.  C.  Willis 

218 

14  4 4 

Isaiah  P.  Winslow 

278 

4 4 44 

Isaiah  Travis 

300 

4 b 4 4 

R.  H.  Bollinger 

78 

ELECTION  HELD 

nov.  8th.,  1864. 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candida*-? 

No.  of  votes 

District  Clerk 

Joel  G.  Kelsey 

237 

Probate  Judge 

E.  A.  Spooner 

313 

County  Attorney 

B.  F.  Killey 

292 

Co.  Supt.  Public  hist. 

Noah  Hanson 

310 

ELECTION  HELD 

nov.  6th,  1865. 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  votes 

County  Commis’r,  1st  Dist 

E.  S.  Barnum 

116 

44  44  44  44 

Isaiah  P.  Winslow 

214 

44  44  44 

W.  C.  Meyers 

71 

44  44  44  44 

E.  A.  Spooner 

263 

“ “ 3d  Dist 

John  Maglott 

148 

44  44  44  44 

M.  C.  Willis 

178 

()G 


IlISTUKY  OF 


Name  of  Office. 

Name  of  Candidate. 

No  of  votes 

County  Treasurer 

W.  JB.  Barnett 

191 

44  ki 

Harvey  Seburn 

167 

County  Clerk 

Joel  G.  Kelsey 

309 

C.  F.  Bowron 

*) 

Sheriff 

H.  M.  Robinson 

1 34 

Registrar  of  Deeds 

J.  W.  Oberholtzer 

353 

County  Assessor 

A.  D.  Westerfield 

340 

44  44 

A.  J,  Owen 

19 

County  Surveyor 

E.  H.  Niles 

340 

Coroner 

Geo.  W.  Parker 

346 

ELECTION  UEH; 

1 nov.  6th,  1866. 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  votes 

District  Clerk 

E.  N.  Morrill 

437 

Co.  Supt.  Public  Inst. 

Noah  Hanson 

457 

Probate  Judge 

E.  A.  Spooner 

473 

County  Attorney 

B.  F.  Kifey 

2*26 

44  44 

E.  Bierer 

7<» 

44  <•  4 

D.  K.  Babbit 

21 

ELECTION  HELD 

nov.  6th.,  1867. 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  votes 

County  Treasurer 

W.  B.  Barnett 

603 

County  Clerk 

E.  N.  Morrill 

558 

Sheriff 

f.  N.  Seaman 

267 

Eli  Moser 

309 

Registrar  of  1 feeds 

J.  K.  Klinefelter 

196 

k4  kk  w4 

J.  W.  Oberholtzer 

384 

County  Aesessor 

J.  K.  Bunn 

227 

“ “ 

D.  K.  Babbit- 

366 

County  Surveyor 

J.  0.  Shannon 

233 

44  fck 

E.  II.  Niles 

0 85 

County  Commis’r,  1st  Dist. 

M.  B.  Bovvers 

220 

44  44  4 4 k4 

John  Walters 

337 

4 4 <»  4 2d  “ 

Jacob  J.  Weltmer 

552 

“ u 3d  “ 

S.  W.  Wade 

129 

4 4 4 4 44  4 4 

Theodore  Schecker 

122 

kk  -4  4 kk  44 

J.  K.  Dickinson 

299 

BKOWX  COUNTY.  67 


Vote  in  Brown  County 

cast  for  the  different  county  offices 

on  Nov.  3d,  1868.  Whole  number  of  votes  cast 

873 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  vote? 

Clerk  of  Dist.  Court 

E.  N.  Morrill 

684 

“ “ ‘k 

David  Glenn 

178 

Supt.  of  Pub.  fust. 

Noah  Hanson 

667 

“ “ “ 

H.  Hall 

193 

County  Attorney 

B.  F.  Killey 

677 

“ . 

J.  J.  Miles 

179 

Probate  Judge 

D.  K.  Babbit 

674 

4 » 44 

Joseph  Hall 

181 

Vote  for  1869.  Whole  number  of  votes  cast 

645 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  votes 

County  Commissioner 

C.  F.  Bowron 

598 

John  S.  Tyler 

569 

Martin  C.  Willis 

470 

u 

D.  J.  Parks 

128 

County  Treasurer 

A.  McLaughlin 

403 

“ 

H.  M.  Robinson 

225 

County  Clerk 

E.  N.  Morrill 

477 

“ 

D.  Downer 

90 

E.  A.  Spooner 

11 

Registrar  of  Deeds 

J.  W.  Oberholtzer 

339 

44  44  44 

J.  K.  Klinefelter 

228 

Sheriff 

J.  E.  Bowers 

172 

44 

• 1.  N.  Seaman 

116 

“ 

J.  K.  Klinefelter 

103 

B.  B.  Munn 

88 

“ 

J A.  Wilson 

60 

N.  Cardray 

49 

Geo.  E.  Selleg 

31 

County  Surveyor 

S.  W.  Aldrich 

614 

Coroner 

S.  Wilkinson 

581 

“ 

A.  Kimball 

13 

Vote  for  Nov.  8, 1870. 

Whole  number  of  votes  cast  817 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  v tes 

Clerk  of  District  Court 

H J.  Aten 

5 66 

4 4 44  4 4 4 4 

S.  E.  Erwin 

215 

County  Attorney 

A.  R.  May 

540 

HISTORY  OF 


Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  votes 

County  Attorney 

F.  M.  Keith 

231 

Probate  Judge 

D.  K.  Babbit 

732 

Supt.  of  Pub.  Just. 

R.  C.  Chase 

755 

Vote  for  Nov.  7,  1871. 

Whole  number  of  votes  cast  1109 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  votes 

County  Commissioner 

B.  F.  Partch 

652 

<4  .4 

M.  B.  Bowers 

635 

A.  M.  Hough 

748 

44  4. 

H.  S.  Lytle 

323 

4. 

T.  Sehecker 

374 

44  44 

Wm.  Hewitt 

353 

County  Treasurer 

A.  McLaughlin 

794 

U U 

A.  Schilling 

261 

County  Clerk 

E.  N.  Morrill 

766 

U 44 

E.  Bierer 

276 

Sheriff 

B.  F.  McCoy 

657 

44 

G.  B.  Jones 

372 

Registrar  of  Deeds 

A.  R.  Platt 

554 

44  44  44 

J.  A Pope 

441 

County  Surveyor 

S.  E.  Erwin 

748 

44  4. 

C.  B.  Ellis 

307 

Coroner 

S.  Wilkinson 

756 

44 

S.  Smouse 

287 

Vote  for  Nov.  5,  1872. 

Whole  number  of  votes  cast  1525 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  (Undidate 

No.  of  votes 

Clerk  of  Dist.  Court 

Henry  Anderson 

1114 

<4  44  44  44 

J.  F.  Roehrn 

400 

County  Attorney 

Ira  J.  La cock 

1075 

u a 

Henry  A.  Parsons 

387 

Probate  Judge 

D.  K.  Babbit 

1105 

44  44 

G.  Amann 

383 

County  Commissioner 

H.  F.  Macy 

1124 

4 4 44 

Adam  Schilling 

384 

Supt.  of  Pub.  Lust. 

R.  C.  Chase 

1125 

4.  44  44  44 

0.  Fountain 

348 

Vote  for  Nov.  4,  1873. 

Whole  number  of  votes  cast  1400 

Name  of  Office. 

Name  of  Candidate. 

No.  of  votes 

County  Treasurer 

Harvey  Sebum 

953 

44  4 4 

II.  F.  Macy 

438 

DROWN  COUNTY. 


GO 


Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  rote* 

County  Clerk 

Henry  Isely 

847 

LL  LL 

Jacob  Reasoner 

548 

Registrar  of  Deeds 

F D.  Howlette 

880 

LL  LL  ll 

A.  R.  Platt 

508 

Sheriff 

Albert  Rotkes 

716 

Li 

B.  F.  McCo\r 

480 

L£ 

C.  H.  Orth 

194 

County  Surveyor 

S.  E.  Erwin 

877 

U Li 

L.  P.  Hazen 

518 

Coroner 

H.  Honnell 

888 

Li 

J.  M.  Castle 

503 

Co.  Commis'r  1st  Dist. 

0.  A.  Saylor 

286 

ki  LL  LL  LL 

L.  P.  Winslow 

135 

it  it  it 

A.  Walters 

275 

LL  LL  LL  LL 

0.  Fountain 

220 

3d  “ 

Jno.  McCrerey 

315 

L.  LL  LL  LL 

C.  L.  Carroll 

146 

Vote  for  Nov.  3,  1874. 

Whole  number  of  votes  cast 

1373 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candida** 

No.  of  votes 

Clerk  of  Dist.  Court 

J.  W.  Oberholtzer 

782 

LL  Ll  LL  LL 

David  L.  Burger 

571 

County  Attorney 

F.  M.  Keith 

736 

LL  LL  ' 

Jas.  Falloon 

609 

Supt  of  Pub.  Inst. 

R.  C.  Chase 

779 

LL  LL  LL  LL 

D.  C.  Nutting 

566 

Probate  Judge 

T.  B.  Dickason 

760 

LL  LL 

N.  P.  Rawlings 

594 

Vote  for  Nov.  2, 1875. 

Whole  number  of  votes  cast 

1482 

Name  of  Office 

Name  of  Candidate 

No.  of  rotes 

County  Treasurer 

James  B.  Allison 

675 

LL  LL 

Harvey  Sebum 

796 

Count}'  Clerk 

Jacob  Reasoner 

630 

LL  LL 

Henry  I sely 

839 

Registrar  of  Deeds 

E.  D.  Benner 

733 

LL  LL  LL 

Jacob  F.  Roehin 

699 

Sheriff 

C.  H.  Lawrence 

700 

LL 

Albert  Rokes 

523 

LL 

P.  C.  McGilvarv 

231 

UtSTOKY  OK 


In 


Name  of  Office 

Sheriff 

Name  of  Candidate 

A.  J.  Comstock 

No.  of  rotes 
2 

Comity  Surveyor 

H.  P.  Kinney 

829 

“ 

J . 0.  Shannon 

597 

Coroner 

Wm.  Shirley 

888 

“ 

W.  A.  Turner 

528 

Comity  Commis’r  1st 

I list.  C.  P.  Bowron 

230 

“ 

i;  S-  Sherman 

183 

■id 

“ Alfred  Walters 

463 

“ B.  McCartney 

38 

“ “ 3d 

li  C,  L.  Carroll 

313 

“ Theo.  Scheckcr 

164 

COUNTY  LINKS. 

The  Legislature  of 

1868  changed  the  county 

lines  by 

transferring’  townships  five,  ranges  fifteen  and  sixteen 
from  Brown  to  Jackson  county.  This  is  the  only  change 
that  lias  ever  been  made  in  the  boundaries,  and  leaves  the 
county  just  twenty-four  miles  square. 


BROUN  OOUNT1'. 


71 


IlLSK  AND  FALL  OF  THE  HIAWATHA  CLUB. 


COM  PI  LIE  I)  FOR  THE  AUTHOR  BY  A.  K . MAY,  ESQ. , CITY  ATTORNEY. 


During  the  year  1875  the  City  Council  refused 
to  grant  any  dram  shop  or  saloon  licenses  in  the  city, 
and  no  intoxicating  liquors  were  sold  excepting  such 
as  may  have  been  sold  in  the  drug  stores,  until  about 
October  7th,  1875,  when  there  was  a movement 
originated  by  a few  persons,  ostensibly  for  the  purpose 
of  forming  a Beer  Club  for  the  purpose  of  social  enjoy- 
ment, but  in  reality  for  the  purpose  of  opening  and 
maintaining  a dram  shop  in  violation  of  law,  and 
evading  the  license  laws  of  the  city. 

A petition  was  circulated  and  numerously  signed, 
bearing  the  following  heading  : 

“We,  the  undersigned,  hereby  agree,  to  and  with 
“each  other,  to  form  and  arrange  a club  for  the  pur- 
“pose  of  social  enjoyment,  said  club  to  have  its  rooms 
“in  the  city  of  Hiawatha,  and  to  be  known  as  ‘The 
“Hiawatha  Club.’  Dated  this  7th  day  of  Oct.,  1875.” 


UlSTOK V OF 


About  the  same  time,  and  probably  on  the  same  day, 
Fred  W.  Robl  and  Henry  IStauff,  two  persons  then 
living  about  eight  miles  south  of  town,  opened  the  build- 
ing situated  on  the  east  half  of  lot  No.  91,  on  Oregon  St., 
commonly  called  the  Billiard  Hall  or  Corn  Exchange,  and 
owned  by  J.W.Pottenger,as  the  headquarters  of  the  Hiawa- 
tha Club.  They  immediately  and  almost  daily  shipped  large 
quantities  of  beer  and  liquors  to  said  room, and  the  same  w as 
handed  out  to  their  customers,  by  said  Robl  and  Stauff, 
and  drank  on  the  premises,  the  customers  paying  there- 
for with  printed  tickets  or  checks,  bought  from  Rohl  and 
Stauff  at  five  cents  per  ticket  or  check,  one  ticket  pro- 
curing a glass  of  beer  and  two  a drink  of  whisky,  the 
more  fancy  drinks  requiring  more  in  proportion.  After- 
wards, at  a meeting  held  by  the  club,  on  October  18th, 
1875,  the  club  adopted  a constitution  and  rules  of  order 
for  their  government,  which  among  other  things  provided 
that  the  officers  of  the  association  should  consist  of  a 
Prsident,  Vice  President,  Secretary,  Treasurer  and  five 
Trustees,  who  together  should  form  the  Board  of  Manage- 
ment, to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  association.  That  the 
officers  should  be  elected  annually.  That  stated  meetings 
should  be  held  monthly.  That  members  should  be  pro- 
posed one  week  before  election,  elected  by  ballot,  receiv- 
ing not  less  than  ten  affirmative  to  each  negative  vote, 
and  after  election  each  member  should  pay  an  entrance 
fee  of  25  cents.  The  constitution  also  provided  that  each 
member  must  procure  tickets  from  the  treasurer  for  re- 
freshments before  the  same  were  partaken  of. 

In  order  to  do  away  with  the  necessity  of  being  for- 


BROWN  COUNTY. 


73 


mally  proposed  and  ballotted  for  as  a member,  however, 
the  constitution  wisely  and  sagaciously  provided  “that 
any  member  might  invite  gentlemen  to  the  rooms  of  the 
association  for  a single  May  on’ registering  his  own  name 
with  that  of  the  visitor  in  a book  kept  for  that  pur- 
pose, thus  securing  to  the  tired  and  weary  wayfarer 
a convenient  oasis  of  refreshment. 

The  house  committee  was  charged  with  the  duty 
of  appointing  the  employees  and  regulating  the  price 
of  articles  furnished  to  members  in  the  house,  and 
while  Messrs.  Rolil  and  Stauff  at  their  trial  testified 
that  they  vrere  appointed  by  the  house  committee  to 
fill  their  respective  stations,  yet  they  had  reluctantly 
to  admit  that  they  neglected  to  fix  any  compensation 
for  their  services,  which  to  the  mind  of  the  Court  did 
not  seem  to  be  very  consistent  with  their  defense,  that 

they  were  not  the  proprietors  of  the  establishment 

and  running  it  for  their  own  benefit  and  private  gain, 
but  simply  as  the  paid  employees  of  a lawful  organi- 
zation. 

Other  rules  were  adopted  as  standing  rules,  one  of 
which  was,  that  the  house  should  be  open  at  9 o’clock 
in  the  morning  daily  for  the  reception  of  members, 
and  close  at  12  o’clock  in  the  evening,  but  the  rule  was 
not  to  influence  members  then  actually  in 

the  house  in  respect  to  their  departure. 

This  state  of  affairs  lasted  until  the  15th  of  October, 
when  H.  J.  Aten,  Mayor  of  the  City,  issued  his 


74 

ii 

i stout  of 

written 

order  to 

G.  T. 

Woodmansce,  the 

City 

Mar- 

slnd,  commanding 

him 

to  take  charge  of 

and 

close 

up  said 

building, 

cl  8 cl 

place  dangerous  to 

the 

peace 

and  quiet  of  the  city,  and  to  keep  the  same  closed 
until  Saturday  night,  October  16th,  at  12  o’clock,  P.  M., 
which  order  the  Marshal  promptly  executed. 

Early  on  the  following  Monday  morning  Rohl 
and  Stauff  opened  the  building  again  anu  prose- 
cuted their  business  of  selling  beer  and  liquor 

as  they  had  done  before,  and  continued  to  do  so 

until  October  20th,  when  Mayor  Aten  issued  a 

second  order  to  the  City  Marshal  commanding  him 

to  close  the  building,  and  keep  it  closed  for'  the 
space  of  three  days  from  that  date,  which  order  the 
Marshal  immediately  attempted  to  execute,  but  was 
forcibly  ejected  from  the  premises  by  Rohl  and  Stauff 
and  several  other  members  of  the  club. 

lie  made  one  or  two  more  attempts  afterwards 
to  execute  the  same,  but  finding  the  door  locked 
and  guarded  every  time  that  he  made  the  attempt, 
lie  summoned  as  a posse,  Thomas  McLaughlin,  J.  K. 
Klinefelter  and  G.  E.  Selleg. 


They  proceeded  to  the  room,  broke  open  the  door, 


BROWN  COUNTY. 


75 


forcibly  ejected  the  occupants  and  locked  the  building 

up. 

Shortly  thereafter,  Rolil  and  Stauff,  and  others, 
broke  open  the  building,  entered  the  same,  and 

prosecuted  their  business  the  same  as  before. 

Immediately  after  their  expulsion  from  the  building 
Fred  W.  Bohl  made  affidavit  before  W.  J.  Richardson, 
J.  P.,  and  procured  a warrant  for  the  arrest  of  G.  T. 
Woodmansee  and  his  said  posse  on  a charge  of  riot. 

The  case  was  prosecuted  before  W.  J.  Richardson, 

J.  P.,  by  James  Falloon  and  County  Attorney,  F.  M. 
Keith,  for  the  State,  and  the  prisoners  were  defended 
by  the  City  Attorney,  A.  R.  May,  Ira  J.  Lacock 

and  C.  E.  Berry.  The  jury  promptly  brought  in 
a verdict  of  not  guilty  and  found  that  the  prosecution 
was  without  cause.  ' The  Justice  thereupon  discharged 
the  prisoners,  and  taxed  the  costs  of  prosecution  to 
the  prosecuting  witness,  F.  W.  Rolil. 

By  this  time  matters  had  assumed  quite  a serious 
aspect ; the  club  members  declaring  that  the  city 

had  no  right  to  interfere  in  their  business,  and  that 
they  would  resist  any  further  attempt  at  interference 
even  to  the  shedding  of  blood,  and  stating  that 
they  were  advised  by  their  counsel  to  do  so.  The  city 


IliSTOKY  OF 


70 

authorities,  on  the  oilier  hand,  were  determined 

that  the  ordinances  of  the  city  should  be  enforced 
at  all  hazards  and  at  any  cost. 

On  Nov.  18th  Rolil  and  Stauff  were  arrested  for 
a violation  of  the  city  ordinances  in  selling  in- 

toxicating liquors  in  said  building,  and  the  case 
was  tried  before  Police  Justice  J.  P.  Mulbollen,  on 
Nov.  22,  and  resulted  in  the  conviction  of  the 
defendants,  and  in  the  imposition  of  a tine  of 

850  each  on  the  defendants.  From  this  judgement  the 
defendants  appealed  to  the  District  Court. 

Rolil  and  Stauff,  however,  still  continued  their 
business,  and  became  even  more  bold  and  defiant, 
stating  that  no  matter  how  often  they  would  be  con- 
victed they  would  appeal  their  cases  and  sell 
liquor  all  the  same. 

By  this  time,  also,  the  place  became  an  intolerable 
nuisance  by  reason  of  the  boisterous  and  indecent 
behavior  of  the  drunken  people,  day  and  night,  in 
and  around  the  building,  the  same  being  on  the  most 
public  street  and  in  the  business  portion  of  the 
city. 

On  November  27th,  Rolil  and  Stauff  were  again  ar- 
rested on  the  charge  of  keeping  and 
maintaining  a common  public  nuisance  in 


r.KOWN  COUNTY. 


said  building,  and  on  trial  before  the  Police  Judge 
Dec.,  2d,  *were  i. convicted  of  keeping  a nuisance  and 
the  premises  adjudged  a nuisance  and  ordered  to 
be  abated,  and  defendants  ordered  to  pay  the  costs. 
From  this  judgment  the  ' defendants  also  promptly  ap- 
pealed, and  kept  on  selling  liquor  in  the  building  as  they 
had  previously  done. 

Thereupon,  on  or  about  the  loth  day  of  Dec.,  1875, 
the  Mayor  issued  his  writ  to  the  City  Marshal,  (as 
the  ordinance  provided,)  reciting  the  aforesaid  judgment 
and  orderingjnm  to  abate  said  nuisance. 

After  several  ineffectual  attempts  by  the  Marshal  to 
enforce  said  writ,  being  met  by  Rohl  and  Stauff  with 
drawn  revolvers  and  threats  that  they  would  shoot 
him  if  he  attempted  to  carry  the  order  into  effect,  he 
summoned  to  his  aid  a large  posse  of  citizens,  among 
whom  were  S.  P.  Gaskill,  A.  A.  Holmes,  R.  C.  Chase, 
George  D.  Blair,  W.  S.  Bristol,  J.  C.  Thomas,  A. 

McLaughlin,  and  others,  who,  besides  some  volunteers 
numbering  in  all  about  twenty  men,  early  on  the 

morning  of  Dec.  25th,  1875,  repaired  to  the  saloon 
armed  with  revolvers,  shot  guns  and  sabres,  forcibly 
ejected  Henry  Stauff,  Rohl  retreating  in  some  disorder, 
emptied  all  the  liquors  found  in  the  establishment,  captur- 
ed the  books  and  papers  of  the  club,  and  with  the 
billiard  tables  and  furniture  barricaded  the  doors. 
They  then  stationed  guards  on  the  outside  and  inside 
of  the  building,  all  heavily  armed,  and  kept  it 
guarded  until  some  ten  or  twelve  days  thereafter 


H1STOKY  OK 


when  the  question  of  the  occupancy  of  the  building 
was  settled  by  injunction  proceedings  in  the  District- 
Court.  Immediately  after  the  building  was  occupied  by  the 
Marshal  and  Ids  posse,  Eohl  and  Stauff  sent  word  into 
the  country  of  the  fact  to  numerous  members  of  the 
club,  who,  to  the  number  of  several  hundred,  flocked 
to  town,  some  being  armed,  breathing  vengeance  against 
the  authorities  and  threatening  to  make  an  attack  on 
the  Marshal  and  his  force  and  re-take  the  building. 

Throughout  the  entire  day  and  the  greater  portion 
of  the  night  hundreds  of  the  members  of  the  club  and 
their  sympathizers  congregated  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
building,  blaspheming  and  threatening  to  break  into 
the  building  by  force,  and  the  citizens  generally 
believed  that  an  attempt  of  that  kind  would  be  made, 
but  no  actual  attempt  was  made. 

While  these  misguided  rioters  showed  by  their 
acts  and  deeds  the  intensity  of  their  feelings  at  the 
invasion  of  their  cherished  rights, — the  right  to  sell, 
buy  and  drink  intoxicating  liquors  without  regard  to 
the  laws  of  the  land, — yet  they  quailed  before  the  de- 
termined countenances  of  the  men  who  guarded  the 
building,  and  beyond  venting  their  feelings  in  lan- 
guage, nothing  further  was  done. 

Matters  remained  thus  for  several  days,  when  Roll l 
and  Stauff  served  a notice  on  the  city  that  they  would 
apply  for  an  injunction  before  Judge  Hubbard,  at 
Atchison.  The  city  immediately  served  notice  on 


Rohl  and  Stauff  that  it  would  at  the  same  time  and  place 
apply  for  an  injunction  on  its  part  against  them,  filed  its 
cross  petition,  and  on  Dec.  31st,  1875,  obtained  a tempo- 
rary injunction  against  Rohl  and  Stauff,  conditioned  that 
on  filing  a bond  in  the  sum  of  $200,  Rohl  and  Stauff 
should  be  restrained  from  interfering  with  the  premises  in 
any  manner  whatever,  for  the  space  of  five  days,  when  the 
court  would  hear  the  matter  further  at  Troy. 

Rohl  and  Stauff  never  filed  their  petition  and  did  not 
appear  at  Atchison.  The  city  gave  the  required  bond, 
and  at  the  time  fixed,  appeared  at  Troy.  This  time  Rohl 
and  Stauff  appeared,  but  instead  of  asking  fi  r the  injunction 
on  their  part,  sought  to  prevent  the  city  from  obtaining 
one  against  them,  on  the  grounds  that  they  never  filed 
their  petition  for  an  injunction,  and  that  the  city  could 
not  maintain  its  application  on  a cross  petition  to  their 
petition  which  was  not  filed,  and  not  pressed  ; and  also, 
because  the  title  of  the  city’s  petition  should  be  changed 
so  as  to  make  it  plaintiff  instead  of  defendant. 

Judge  Hubbard  overruled  these  several  objections  and 
held  that  the  service  of  notice  on  the  city  by  Rohl  and 
Stauff  of  their  intention  to  apply  for  an  injunction 
against  the  city,  gave  it  the  right  to  prevent  in  the  man- 
ner it  did  ; and  the  case  was  then  fully  presented  on  both 
sides,  numerous  affidavits  being  presented.  After  a full 
hearing  Judge  Hubbard,  on  Jan.  (3th,  1876,  granted  an 
injunction,  in  favor  of  flic  city,  restraining  Rohl  and  Stauff 
from  using  the  premises  for  the  sale  of  or  keeping  of 
liquors  of  any  kind  therein,  until  the  April  term  of  our  court, 
on  condition  that  the  city  file  a bond  of  $1000  which  they 
immediately  did  ; also  an  order,  that  upon  the  filing  by 
Rohl  and  Stauff  of  a bond  in  the  sum  of  $200,  the  city 
should  turn  over  the  building  and  books,  papers,  &c.,  cap- 
tured in  the  same  on  the  memorable  25th  of  Dec.  Rohl 
and  Stauff  never  filed  their  bond,  but  the  city  immediately 


UISIOKY  UK 


*U 

turned  over  to  J.  W.  Pottenger,  who  demanded  the  pos- 
session of  the  building,  the  same,  and  after  obtaining 
copies  of  all  the  captured  books,  papers,  Ac.,  turned  the 
same  over  to  Rohl  and  Staulf. 

Thus  ended  the  Hiawatha  Beer  Club,  they  never  after- 
wards establishing  any  other  place  of  business  in  this  city 
for  the  sale  of  liquor.  Rohl  and  Stauff,  however,  as  indi- 
viduals, applied  to  the  courts,  and  on  Eeb.  10th,  1876, 
each  of  them  liled  suits,  individually,  against  H.  J.  Aten, 
G.  T.  Woodmansee,  W.  S.  Bristol,  S.  R.  Gaskill,  R.  C. 
Chase,  A.  A.  Holmes,  Wm.  Clement  and  J.  C.  Thomas, 
for  damages  done  to  their  persons  and  feelings,  Rohl  claim- 
ing $5000  damages,  and  Stauff  a like  amount,  and  also 
claiming  $100  additional  for  cigars  wdiich  he  alleged  the 
defendents  destroyed.  Both  these  petitions  were  demurred 
and  the  demurrers  sustained  ; but  leave  wras  granted  by 
the  court  to  file  amended  petitions.  Before'this  time,  Dec- 
13th,  1875,  Henry  Stauff  brought  suit  in  the  District  Court 
against  G.  T.  Woodmansee  for  #500  damages  for  ejecting 
him  from  the  building.  On  Dec.  25th,  1875,  Henry 
Stauff  and  Murry  Stanley  were  arrested  on  a state  warrant 
charged  with  threatening  to  commit  a breach  of  the  peace 
on  R.  C.  Chase.  There  was  no  appearance  made  against 
the  parties.  On  the  same  day  S.  P.  Gaskill,  W.  S.  Bristol, 
A.  A.  Holmes  J.  C.  Thomas,  A.  McLaughlin,  B.  F.  Partch, 
G.  T.  Woodmansee.  Geo.  M.  Blair.  Wm.  Clement,  J.  Iv. 
Klinefelter,  R.  Chase,  A.  G.  Speer,  Thurston  Chase,  L.  S. 
Herbert,  A.  Rokes  and  Rev.  C.  L.  Shackelford  were  ar- 
rested on  oath  of  Henry  Stauff,  charged  with  committing 
an  assault  and  battery,  Ac.,  on  said  Stauff,  wdiich  case  was 
heard  before  G.  W.  Seaman  J.  P.,  and  the  information 
quashed.  Both  these  last  prosecutions  arose  out  of  the 
Beer  Club  business. 

Shortly  after  the  adjournment-  of  tiie  April  term  of  court, 
1876,  Rohl  and  Stauff  gave  themselves  up  voluntarily  to  the 
Sheriff,  stating  that  they  could  not  pay  their  fines  and  that 
he  would  have  to  take  charge  of  them.  He  kept  them  in  the 
city  calaboose,  which  was  broken  into  by  their  friends  one 


BROWN  COUNTY. 


81 

night,  and  the  prisoners  liberated  ; but  it  was  re- 
paired and  they  were  put  hack  After  staying  in  the  cala- 
boose forseveral  days,  Reverends  Shackelford  and  Lig- 
gett interested  themselves  in  their  behalf,  visited  them  in 
their  cell,  and  the  result  was  that  the  mayor  and  city  coun- 
cil were  petitioned  by  Rohl  and  Stauff  to  remit  their  fines 
and  discharge  them,  they,  Rohl  and  Stauff,  to  pay  all  costs 
and  dismiss  all  suits  by  them  against  the  citizens,  and  the 
city  to  dismiss  all  proceedings  against  them.  This  was 
done,  and  the  money  for  paying  the  costs  mostly  raised  by 
subscription,  the  larger  part  being  contributed  by  the  tem- 
perance people. 

CONCLUSION. 

1 n conclusion  we  desire  to  compare  briefly  the  Brown 
county  of  to-day  with  the  Brown  county  of  1855.  The 
first  tax  collected  in  the  county  was  for  the  year  1856,  and 
the  total  tax  for  that  year  amounted  to  $52.  The  taxes  of 
1875  amounted  to  $88,144.  The  first  assessment  roll  of 
the  county  now  in  existence  is  that  of  1857,  v\ hich  show’s 
a taxable  property  in  the  county  of  38,078,  of  which  $1400 
was  for  four  slaves.  The  assessment  roll  of  1876  shows  a 
taxable  property  of  $3,162,690.  hi  1855  the  first  farms 
were  opened  and  the  first  crops  planted.  Until  that  time 
no  plow  had  ever  disturbed  the  virgin  soil.  In  1876 
175,040  acres  were  under  cultivation,  an  increase  of  26,000 
acres  over  1875.  In  1875,  after  thousands  of  acres  of 
crops  had  been  destroyed  by  grasshoppers,  there  ■ were 
raised  in  the  county  200,000  bushels  of  small  grain, 

2.750.000  bushels  of  corn,  1 ,000,000  lbs  of  broom  corn, 

50.000  bushels  of  potatoes,  and  smaller  quantities  of  sweet 

potatoes,  flax,  sorghum  and  millet.  The  total  products  of 
the  county  for  that  year  being  valued  at  $1,162,820.  The 
crop  of  1876  will  be  much  larger  and  the  money  value  will 
be  considerably  more.  In  1857  there  were  l ■ 5 head  of  horses 
and  684  head  of  cattle.  In  l S 7 8 there  were  6l94  head  of 
horses  and  17,184  head  of  cattle.  In  1857  there 
were  no  animals  to  sell  for  slaughter  and 

very  few  slaughtered  for  home  consumption. 


IIISTOKY  OF 


In  IS?:,  the  value  of  animals  slaughtered  and  sold  for 
slaughter  was  $200,000.  1 n 1857  the  first  fruit  trees  were 

planted  in  the  county.  To-day  there  are  115,645  apple 
trees  growing-,  of  which  18,764  are  bearing  fruit.  There 
are  1871  pear  trees,  155,266  peach  trees,  and  16,680 
cherry  trees,  now,  in  good  condition.  This  would  make  an 
average  of  82  fruit  trees  to  each  man,  woman  and  child  in 
the  county.  This  does  not  include  t lie  trees  in  nurseries 
covering  877  acres  and  numbering  millions.  In  addition 
to  this  there  are  25  acres  of  vineyards  in  the  county  and 
an  immense  quantity  of  the  smaller  fruits.  Who  can  esti- 
mate the  quantity  of  fruit  that  will  be  produced  in  the 
county  in  1886  ? The  sales  of  butter  and  eggs  for  1875 
were  nearly  $40,000.  In  1854  the  lirst  white  man  settled 
in  the  county  ; to-day  there  is  a population  of  6000.  There 
were  no  schools  and  no  churches  ; to-day  there  are  seventy- 
live  schools  taught  in  the  county  at  an  expense  of  $80,000 
per  annum,  and  twenty  church  organizations  are  actively 
engaged  in  educating  the  people  up  to  a higher  life. 

The  future  promises  to  be  a bright  one  for  our  county. 
With  a soil  and  climate  unsurpassed  in  the  United  States  ; 
with  an  enterprising,  honest,  industrious  and  temperate 
class  of  settlers,  the  future  prosperity  of  the  county  is  as- 
sured. In  only  one  respect  is  Brown  county  unlike  the 
other  counties  of  the  state.  It  has  no  whisky  saloon  and 
KG  JAI  L ! It  will  never  need  the  former  ; may  it  never 
have  any  use  for  the  latter. 


THE  END. 


' 

■ 

’ 


<2> 


2877 


